The new head of the Air Force Reserve, Lt. Gen. Charles Stenner, believes that the 120-day air expeditionary force rotation cycle is about the right size and seems to be working, but he wants to ensure that the stress being placed on Reservists in frequently deployed positions and units doesn’t prompt an exodus. Talking with reporters on June 23 (see above), Stenner said that for Reserve forces the “120 days is probably the outside limit of how long we would stay based on the fact that we still have a requirement to come back and maintain the currency and training and the airframes and equipment.” He acknowledged, too, that the subject of “low density/high demand” units—and people—is still an issue. AFRC has to plan accordingly and attempts to ensure that Reservists don’t deploy more than once in every six AEF cycles. Stenner commented: “Do we need to grow more in those particular areas? I think we need to look very hard at what the future fight brings.”
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.