The 560th RED HORSE Squadron officially stood up March 8 at Charleston AFB, S.C., as part of Air Force Reserve Command’s 315th Airlift Wing. The engineering unit, which is made up of 209 Reservists, will provide major force beddown, damage repair, and heavy engineering operations during wartime at locations around the globe. “We are on the pointy end of the spear,” said Col. Daniel Leveille, 560th RHS commander. Its airmen will partner with active duty civil engineers of Charleston’s host 437th Airlift Wing. A new civil engineering complex to be used jointly by the Reservists and active duty engineers is planned for the base. Attending the ceremony was retired Brig. Gen. Tom Meredith who is recognized as the father of RED HORSE operations. The 560th RHS is one of two new RED HORSE units that AFRC is establishing to beef up USAF’s capabilities in this area; the second will be based at Seymour-Johnson AFB, N.C. AFRC also last year relocated its 556th RHS from Lackland AFB, Tex., to Hurlburt Field, Fla., where it partnered with Hurlburt’s active duty 823rd RHS under a Total Force Integration initiative. (Charleston report by Capt. Bryan Lewis)
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.