When maintenance and support personnel from the 52nd Fighter Wing at Spangdahlem AB, Germany, deployed earlier this month to Bezmer AB, Bulgaria, to participate in Exercise Reunion, they essentially had to be prepared to support from scratch the A-10s that flew in from the wing’s 81st Fighter Squadron for the event. “This is the first time a [US Air Forces in Europe] fighter squadron has deployed to this location, so setting up the operations and maintenance facilities to handle A-10 operations was pretty much from the ground up,” said Maj. Benjamin Griffith, an 81st FS pilot. But these airmen rose to the challenge. Using a cleared-out SU-25 hangar provided by their Bulgarian hosts, the airmen set up their maintenance hub with the equipment and spare parts they had brought. “Everyone has really pulled together helping each other out,” said MSgt. Kevin LeBlanc, 52nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron NCO in charge of sortie support. The exercise concluded on Tuesday. (Bezmer report by TSgt. Tammie Moore)
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.