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Air Force’s Active Duty component and its reserve elements all met their recruiting goals for October, the first month of Fiscal 2013, according to the Defense Department’s newest recruiting statistics, released on Dec. 11. These results continue the strong numbers that the Air Force posted in Fiscal 2012 when the Active Duty force met its enlisted accessions goal and the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve both exceeded their targets. In October, the Active Duty element brought in 1,985 new recruits, matching its target, states the Pentagon’s release. Similarly, the Air Guard met its fiscal year-to-date goal by accepting 647 new accessions, and the Reserve component attracted 691 recruits, also its target. Across the other services and their reserve forces, only the Army Reserve ended October short of its goal, falling short by 262 recruits, according to DOD. However, “the shortfall was the result of precision recruiting, which was implemented in an attempt to rebalance the force,” states the release. “Increased job announcements should help mitigate this shortfall,” adds the release.
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.