Airmen 
at RAF Lakenheath, Britain, and Ramstein AB, Germany, last week held memorial services to honor SrA. Nicholas J. Alden and A1C Zachary R. Cuddeback, respectively. A jihadist-inspired gunman killed them in an attack March 2 in Frankfurt, Germany. Alden was a senior patrolman with Lakenheath’s 48th Security Forces Squadron. Cuddeback was a member Ramstein’s 86th Vehicle Readiness Squadron. “I’m extremely proud of Nick Alden,” said Lt. Col. Michael Ross, 48th SFS commander, during Lakenheath’s March 11 memorial ceremony. Ross added, “He will always be part of our lives.” During Ramstein’s March 10 service, Lt. Col. Uduak Udoaka, 86th VRS commander, said of Cuddeback: “My prayer is that following today’s celebration, his legacy won’t be associated with what occurred on Wednesday, March 2, but with the life he lived and the lives he touched.” Testifying before Congress last week, Army Lt. Gen. Ronald Burgess, Defense Intelligence Agency director, said “terrorists inspired by the al Qaeda ideology” remain a persistent threat to the United States, as “most recently exemplified by the attack against United States Air Force personnel in Frankfurt, Germany.” (Lakenheath report by SrA. David Dobrydney) (Ramstein report by TSgt. Markus M. Maier)
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.