In a letter late last week to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, and Rep. Solomon Ortiz (D-Tex.), leader of the committee’s readiness panel, call for a halt in converting DOD civilians to the Pentagon’s National Security Personnel System until “a thorough review of the system is concluded.” Skelton and Ortiz cite “widespread distrust and discontent” that NSPS has raised both within the ranks of those converted and those waiting in the wings, as highlighted in recent Government Accountability Office and Congressional Budget Office reports. They believe, too, that “questions have arisen over the last minute issuance of regulations (in the final weeks of the Bush Administration) which go beyond the intent of Congress” in NSPS revisions lawmakers made in the 2008 defense authorization act. The Pentagon, reportedly, is reviewing its options, before responding. As the Skelton/Ortiz letter points out, though, President Obama is no fan of the NSPS.
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.