A contracting specialist with the 772nd Enterprise Sourcing Squadron at JBSA-Lackland, Tex., SrA. Steven C. Hedgepeth is one of the Air Force’s 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year for 2013. Hedgepeth was selected below-the-zone as senior airman for cumulative actions that included providing upgrade training and direct contracting support to the Air Force Civil Engineer Center for construction requirements to support operations in Afghanistan. Over one year, he executed 278 contract actions covering three contingencies and touching six countries. He also cleared $5.7 million in contractor claims. He supported a $2 million electrical systems upgrade contract for Kabul International Airport in Afghanistan. He also revamped the Afghan Air Force headquarters project, rectifying a four-week delay and recouping $5 million. During a volunteer 83-day temporary duty at Offutt AFB, Neb., he completed 264 contract actions for the Defense Department and other federal agency customers. Hedgepeth’s home of record is Sioux Falls, S.D.
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.