The Air Force continued to post strong recruiting numbers for the fiscal year through July, according to the Pentagon’s latest recruiting statistics. The service’s Active Duty component met its numerical accession goal for the first 10 months of Fiscal 2013, attracting 21,969 accessions, states the Defense Department’s Aug. 29 release. The Air National Guard also matched its fiscal-year-to-date target by bringing in 8,605 recruits. Meanwhile, the Air Force Reserve exceeded its accession goal by 1,106, accepting 6,307 recruits, or 121 percent of the target. Across the other services and their reserve components, only the Army Reserve fell short of its year-to-date goal through July, ending up with 21,681 accessions, 3,241 short of the target of 24,922. (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.