Air 
Force recruiting across the Total Force remained strong through July, the 10th month of Fiscal 2012, according to the Pentagon’s newest recruiting data, issued last week. The Air Force’s Active Duty component brought in 23,988 new accessions through July, 14 more than its fiscal-year-to-date goal of 23,974, show these statistics. Similarly, the Air National Guard exceeded its goal for the fiscal year to date by 14, attracting 7,333 new accessions. Matching its goal through July was the Air Force Reserve, which accepted 7,121 accessions. Across the US military, only the Army Reserve fell short of its numerical accession goal, bringing in less 469 recruits than originally planned. However, that shortfall “was intentional” as the Army works to rebalance its force, states the Defense Department’s Aug. 23 release. (See also our coverage of June’s recruiting numbers.)
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.