Air Force Global Strike Command, headquartered at Barksdale AFB, La., earlier this month celebrated its first birthday. “Let me just state it clearly up front: any success we have had so far helping to reinvigorate the nuclear enterprise is due almost entirely to the tireless, skilled, and dedicated efforts of you, our airmen,” stated Lt. Gen. Frank Klotz, AFGSC boss, in a release. He also praised the command’s civilian employees and contractors. The command oversees USAF’s nuclear-capable bomber and ICBM forces. Global Strike Command was activated on Aug. 7, 2009; later this year, it will reach full operational capability. At that time, it will have about 900 headquarters staff and about 23,000 personnel overall spread among the command’s three bomber bases and three operational ICBM bases. “We realize that having pride in our nuclear heritage and mission is critically important to our future success as a command,” said Klotz during a Capitol Hill speech in late July.
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.