A Wyoming Air National Guard aeromedical evacuation crew recently mentored Tunisian doctors, nurses, and crews during a three-day mass-casualty exercise at Bizerte, Tunisia. “The Libyan crisis really woke up the Tunisians to the logistics of how to handle mass causalities,” said 1st Lt. Shane Ryan, a flight nurse with the state’s 187th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, in a June 15 release from the Cheyenne-based 153rd Airlift Wing. During Medlite 2012, Ryan and fellow Air Guardsman Maj. Janice Weixelman, a flight surgeon, shared their know-how with Tunisian crews aboard a HH-3 Helicopter and C-130 airlifters, in addition to aiding with a live air-crash response drill, according to the release. “The majority of participants had never had the experience of working in or around helicopters or C-130s” said Weixelman. “This exercise gave them an invaluable opportunity to understand the complexity and extent of aeromedical evacuation,” she added. The Wyoming ANG is paired with Tunisia under the Guard’s state partnership program. The exercise took place May 22 to May 24. (Tunisia report by SSgt. Natalie Stanley)
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.