MSgt. Terence Jackson, a KC-10 flight engineer with the 305th Air Mobility Wing at McGuire AFB, N.J., has surpassed more than 10,000 flight hours during his deployment to the 908th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron covering Southwest Asia operations. The Grand Rapids, Mich. native passed the 10K mark on Jan. 23, according to a Jan. 26 photo release. < Maj. Jon Williams, an air battle manager on E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control aircraft at Tinker AFB, Okla., surpassed 8,760 flight hours—a year’s worth—during a mission over Southwest Asia on Jan. 15. Deployed to the 963rd Expeditionary Airborne Air Control Squadron, Williams has flown 1,102 AWACS sorties over his 28-year career and has more flying hours than any other active duty E-3 crew member, according to a Jan. 17 release (by SrA. Brian Ellis).
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.