President Obama on Wednesday nominated Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis to head US Central Command. If the Senate approves his nomination, Mattis, would fill the void at CENTCOM’s top post left by the departure of Army Gen. David Petraeus in late June. Obama tasked Petraeus to take command of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan after the resignation of Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal from that position. In his new role, Mattis, current US Joint Forces Command boss, would oversee more than 200,000 US troops as well as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In related news, Obama on Tuesday nominated Gen. James Amos to be the new Marine Corps commandant. If confirmed, Amos would be the first Marine aviator to lead the Corps. He would succeed Gen. James Conway, who is retiring. (Defense Department release on Mattis) (DOD release on Amos) (See also AFPS report on Mattis.)
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.