USAF already has plans built around Boeing’s KC-46 tanker program delivering 18 aircraft by 2017, and if there are significant delays in fielding the Pegasus, this would have cascading effects, said Gen. Darren W. McDew, then-commander of Air Mobility Command, in an interview with Air Force Magazine (McDew passed command of AMC to Gen. Carlton Everhart in an Aug. 11 ceremony). For example, he noted that many airmen’s assignments will be affected when KC-46s enter the inventory to replace old KC-135s. There are “real people at the end of that,” he said. Similarly, military construction work, test activities, and training regimes are all set up with the expectation that KC-46s will be available at the predicted times in the predicted quantities. McDew called the KC-46 “vital” to AMC and clearly the No. 1 modernization priority for the command. He said he is “a bit concerned” about Boeing’s progress along the KC-46 schedule, but his bigger concern is what would happen if sequestration were to return. Officials have called stable and predictable funding essential to the health of the KC-46 program. McDew has been confirmed to succeed Gen. Paul Selva as the next chief of US Transportation Comman?d.
Pentagon Releases Cost of Living, BAH Rates for 2026
Dec. 30, 2025
The Pentagon will pay cost of living allowances to 127,000 service members in the continental U.S. in 2026, an increase of 66,000 members in 2025. Airmen and Guardians across the U.S. will also receive an average increase of 4.2 percent for their Basic Housing Allowance, compared to the 5.4 percent…
