First Lady Michelle Obama last month unveiled the Information Technology Training and Certification Partnership, a public-private industry initiative designed to enable service members to gain industry-recognized IT certifications prior to exiting the military. “This new partnership will provide up to 161,000 service members with the chance to gain the certifications they need for 12 different high-demand, high-paying technology careers . . . from IT security analysts to computer programmers to quality assurance engineers,” said the First Lady in her address during an April 29 forum on this issue in the Executive Office Building near the White House. Providing this certification is expected to open up more than 1.8 million job opportunities to veterans by 2020, according to a White House release. “We are not going to stop until all our veterans and military families have good jobs—the good jobs they deserve, the good jobs that they’ve earned, jobs that will help them build their careers and create a better future for their children,” said Obama. (First Lady’s transcript)
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.