Lt. Gen. Richard Newton III, Air Force personnel chief, the service’s physical training uniform (PTU) now is considered an official uniform with proscribed wear procedures contained in a revised Air Force Instruction 36-2903. Airmen will have to wear the PTU by the book when they take the new twice yearly fitness tests (see No Mandatory PT? above) and when they participate in unit PT sessions. The Air Force will let airmen wear individual pieces of the PTU with “conservative civilian attire” for personal PT or when off-duty, according to an Air Force Uniform Office release. The service just rolled out in time for the Air Force Marathon last month a new lightweight running short. (AFUO report by Brad Jessmer)
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.