The White House on June 21 officially designated Michael Donley as the Acting Secretary of the Air Force. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has recommended that Donley and Gen. Norton Schwartz be nominated for Secretary and Chief of Staff of the Air Force, but the White House has not yet formally to put their names in nomination on Capitol Hill. Gen. Michael Moseley, outgoing Chief of Staff, has asked that June 27 be his last day, followed by a formal retirement date of Aug. 1.
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.