Air Education and Training Command is still striving to boost the number of total military training instructors at JBSA-Lackland, Tex., to 508, with 25 percent of all instructors female, said Gen. Edward Rice, head of Air Education and Training Command. Speaking to reporters at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 21, Rice said he doesn’t expect the command to reach that number until December 2014. However, he said it’s possible “we may be able to accelerate that a little bit.” The goal is to boost the numbers at a “deliberate pace” because training capacity is limited and spacing out the assignments will ensure not all the MTIs leave Basic Military Training at the same time, said Rice. “We are building this up gradually at a pace I think is reasonable,” he said. The decision to rebalance the MTI corps came after a string of sexual misconduct cases by MTIs at Lackland rocked the command last year. So far there have been eight courts-martial; Rice said he fully expects more charges to come. He declined to say how many more, pending the completion of independent investigations.
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.