Air Force Special Operations Command activated the Special Tactics Training Squadron June 1 at Hurlburt Field, Fla. The newly designated unit was formerly the Advanced Skills Training Flight under the base’s 720th Operations Support Squadron. The new training squadron, which currently has about 56 instructors, will now fall under the 720th Special Tactics Group until October, when it moves under the Air Force Special Operations Training Center, which will stand up then. The STTS performs the final phase of training for combat controllers and special tactics officers before they depart for operational special tactics squadrons. The unit’s scope is expected to grow. For example, it will train more special operations weather airmen as that career field expands. (Hurlburt report by 1st Lt. Amy Cooper)
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.