The Air National Guard this week held the first of what they believe should be an annual Domestic Operations Essential Requirements conference, at which Air Guard planners began work toward a “formal document” that will help shape the Air Force’s future resource requirements, said Lt. Gen. Harry Wyatt III, ANG director. Wyatt told attendees, “We will use your work here to push for modernization and equipment.” Although this was primarily an Air Guard event, Wyatt said he hopes to bring in the Army National Guard in the future. Air Force Maj. Gen. Donald Fick, acting Joint Staff director at the National Guard Bureau, called the conference “great,” noting that the National Guard in the past was at the “end of the food chain” but now gets “to plan a program for homeland defense, which is our number one priority.” (NGB report by TSgt. Nick Choy)
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.