: Air Force officials concluded the final iteration of Operation Pacific Angel 2009, a humanitarian and civic assistance exercise, on Sept. 22 in Vietnam. Led by 13th Air Force at Hickam AFB, Hawaii, civil engineers and medical staffs from the ranks of active duty and Air National Guard units in Alaska, Guam, Hawaii, and Washington, spent nearly two weeks in Vietnam’s Quang Tri Province. The medical team provided more than 5,000 Vietnamese with general medical, while the civil engineers refurbished the Cam Thuy Medical Clinic. Col. Wayne Pritt, 13th AF command surgeon, said the exercise allowed the airmen “not only bring very important aid to this community, but to also build and foster relationships here in Vietnam.” The first iteration of Pacific Angel 2009 took place concurrently in Indonesia and Timor Leste in July. (Quang Tri report by TSgt. Kerry Jackson)
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.