CMSgt. James Hotaling has been selected as the Air National Guard’s next command chief, announced Air Force officials on Tuesday. Hotaling is succeeding CMSgt. Christopher Muncy, who retired in September after more than three years in that role. Hotaling has been serving since January 2012 as command chief for the Continental US NORAD Region-1st Air Force at Tyndall AFB, Fla. As the Air Guard’s command chief, he will be the senior adviser to Lt. Gen. Stanley Clarke, the incoming ANG director, on matters concerning the readiness, morale, welfare, proper use, and progress of the more than 90,000 enlisted Air Guardsmen, according to a Jan. 8 Tyndall release. “On one hand, I am excited to be moving on to bigger challenges serving our Air National Guard, but on the other, I will miss the camaraderie and friendships I have established during my short time here at 1st Air Force,” said Hotaling. A North Carolina native, Hotaling enlisted in the Air Force in 1987 and served as a special tactics combat controller. After some 10 years on active duty, he left the service, later joining the Coast Guard, before subsequently returning to the Air Force.
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.