The Defense Department announced Wednesday that it had identified the remains of TSgt. James G. Maynard, an airman who had been missing in action since World War II. Maynard, of Ellenwood, Ga., will be buried Friday at Arlington National Cemetery. Maynard was part of a six-man crew aboard a C-47A Skytrain that departed from Tanauan Airfield in the Philippines on March 12, 1945. As soon as the aircraft was cleared for takeoff, all communication was severed and the men were later presumed killed in action after a search failed to turn up any evidence of the aircraft. In 1989, US officials received information on a possible World War II-era aircraft crash site near Leyte, where Tanauan was located. However, unrest in the region prevented on-scene investigation or recovery operations before 2009. (DOD release)
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.