Senior 
USAF officials, representatives from six Latin American nations, and leaders from the Inter-America Air Forces Academy opened a new airfield training complex at Lackland AFB, Tex., a part of Joint Base San Antonio. The $19 million IAAFA facility, eight years in the making, combines all aviation maintenance courses for the school in one location, according to academy officials. It also provides a new home for the 318th Training Squadron. “This facility serves as another milestone in the [academy’s] 68-year legacy of enriching the global community of airmen,” said Lt. Gen. Robin Rand, commander of 12th Air Force (Air Forces Southern). The complex opened on Feb. 9 and welcomed its first students four days later. The IAAFA, founded in 1943, teaches technical courses, in both Spanish and English, to airmen from the militaries of more than 20 Latin American countries every year. (San Antonio report by Mike Joseph)
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.