The clean-up of 15 acres of former skeet range on the grounds of Little Rock AFB, Ark., is scheduled to be completed this month. Workers have removed more than 36 million pounds of contaminated soil—enough to fill 450 semi trucks—during the restoration and replaced the bad soil with more than 3,000 trees and recycled soil and mulch. “We removed something potentially harmful and replaced it with something positive, and that benefits everyone. This is what restoration is all about,” said Kelly Stater, restoration project manager. A site-wide investigation of the base uncovered high levels of lead contamination on the 1960s-era range that posed a health risk to humans as well as animals. (Little Rock report by SSgt. Jacob Barreiro)
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.