Offutt AFB, Neb., is the preferred location for the new satellite central identification lab for the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, according to base officials. “The 55th Wing is proud to welcome the JPAC as a new member of Team Offutt,” said Brig. Gen. Don Bacon, wing commander, in a release May 15. He added, “Their mission is of the utmost importance to our nation and the families of those missing service members, and we look forward to helping them bring home and identifying these fallen warriors in any way that we can.” JPAC, headquartered at JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, searches for, recovers, and then works to identify the remains of unaccounted American prisoners of war and those military personnel missing in action from past conflicts. The new satellite lab will help JPAC meet the congressional mandate to identify 200 remains per year beginning in 2015, said the Offutt officials. Plans are for Building D, former home of the Air Force Weather Agency, to house the satellite lab. JPAC’s central lab is located in Honolulu.
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.