Air Force senior leaders are trying to find ways to close the roughly 10-year gap between an airman attending Airman Leadership School and then going to a Noncommissioned Officer Academy, said CMSAF James Roy. “That timeframe is very important for airmen because that’s the time in which they find themselves supervising others,” he said in an Aug. 8 release. The answer may be found in a new initiative for enlisted professional military education dubbed “EPME Next.” Its goal is to develop airmen earlier in their careers so they are better equipped to meet the Air Force’s mission, said Roy. “We need to continue focusing on training and get as much as we can out of every dime we put into training and exercises,” he explained. “We have to take advantage of every education opportunity because they are not going to be abundant.” (AFNS report by TSgt. Benjamin Rojek)
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.