The Air Force has awarded a Bronze Star Medal to Capt. Mike Lee with the 375th Logistics Readiness Squadron at Scott AFB, Ill., for his actions while deployed for a year to Afghanistan. Lee’s primary duty was to help train Afghan forces about combat logistics, but he also led 125 convoys, often under attack. During one on Oct. 18, 2008, his convoy had to venture through the Tangi Valley, known for deadly ambushes and IEDs. Enemy forces attacked the convoy with small arms fire and mortars, then machine guns pinned down Lee and a team as they tried to clear a roadblock, engaging the team for about 25 minutes before they could clear the road and proceed. Almost immediately, RPGs struck several convoy vehicles; the convoy got through what Lee termed a “granddaddy of complex ambushes,” but it lost only one troop. (Scott report by Christi Spargur)
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.