Earlier this month, the Air Force took another big step in institutionalizing its new enlisted career field for airmen who operate sensors on remotely piloted aircraft by accepting, for the first time ever, students directly from basic military training into its new basic sensor operator training course at Randolph AFB, Tex. Of the 14 students in the BSOT course that began on Jan. 15, eight came straight from BMT at Lackland AFB, Tex., joining six students, who have prior Air Force service and are being retrained for this role. TSgt. Sonny Cohrs, a spokesman for Randolph’s 12th Flying Training Wing told the Daily Report Tuesday that this first inclusion of fresh BMT graduates is “a very big deal” for the ramp-up of this training. It’s one of several efforts underway to speed the flow of airmen to operate MQ-1 and MQ-9 unmanned surveillance aircraft. (Includes Randolph report by Sean Bowlin)
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.