Sheppard AFB, Tex., will host a noncommissioned officer academy that is expected to open its doors to technical sergeants in early 2011 and initially graduate about 1,300 airmen annually, Air Force officials announced May 7. The new academy will train active duty, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve airmen. It will give the Air Force a total of 11 NCO academies—including one each in Alaska, Hawaii, Germany, and Japan—that will graduate a combined estimated 11,800 students each year. The Sheppard academy will be housed in a facility on the base grounds previously used for enlisted medical training. That training mission is moving to Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio, courtesy of BRAC 2005. (Randolph report)
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.