If what we heard late Thursday is accurate, the Senate Armed Services Committee has blessed Gen. Norton Schwartz to be Air Force Chief of Staff and Gen. Duncan McNabb to replace him at US Transportation Command. Early on Thursday, ABC News had reported that Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), committee chairman, planned to “postpone action” on the Schwartz nomination because of lingering questions over his Congressional testimony from 2003. Now, we hear, Schwartz and McNabb are cleared for full Senate confirmation, but that the nomination of Michael Donley to be Air Force Secretary is still on hold. Stay tuned.
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.