The Air Force reactivated the 479th Flying Training Group Oct. 2, this time at NAS Pensacola, Fla., where it will lead the service’s newly structured combat systems officer training starting next May. Per BRAC 2005, the Air Force is consolidating its navigator, electronic warfare officer, and weapons system officer training into the single CSO schoolhouse at Pensacola. Currently much of this training goes on at Randolph AFB, Tex. Construction of the 479th FTG’s operations and academic facilities at Pensacola will be complete by year’s end. When fully operational, the schoolhouse will graduate about 360 officers per year. The group had been inactive since July 2007 when its undergraduate pilot and introduction to fighter fundamentals training ended at Moody AFB, Ga., also as a result of BRAC 2005. (Pensacola report by Michael Briggs)
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.