The Air Force Academy’s enlisted corps inducted Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Mike Gould into the Order of the Sword. “I can’t thank you enough,” said Gould, superintendent since June 2009, to the academy’s enlisted force during the March 19 induction ceremony on campus. He added, “Everything we do here at the Air Force Academy to develop our cadets into leaders to go out and lead our country happens because of you. We simply could not do our mission without the work you do.” Inducting a senior leader into the Order of the Sword is the highest recognition enlisted airmen can bestow on a leader, said CMSgt. Todd Salzman, the academy’s command chief. (Colorado Springs report by Gino Mattorano)
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.