The 
Defense Department continues to attract new recruits to its ranks to the extent that it is meeting and, in some cases, exceeding its accession goals thus far in Fiscal 2011. Above all, the Army enjoys a wave of strong recruiting, with its active force and reserve components all surpassing their accession goals for the fiscal year to date through May, based on the Pentagon’s newest recruiting numbers, issued Tuesday. USAF’s active component is exactly meeting its year-to-date goal, attracting 18,444 accessions so far. The Air National Guard finished May with 4,529 accessions, six above its year-to-date goal. The Air Force Reserve is alone among all of the active and reserve components in standing a little bit behind its goal. It has brought in 6,079 new recruits through May, 98 percent of its target of 6,194. (See also the previous month’s numbers.)
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.