Consolidation of the Air Force’s human performance research at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, took an important step forward April 16 with the award of the construction contract for the new 680,000 square-foot complex that will host the mission under the newly established 711th Human Performance Wing. The Army Corps of Engineers let the $195 million contract to the joint venture of Butt Construction of Dayton, Ohio, and Archer Western Contractors, a part of the Chicago-based Walsh Group. “We are beginning the largest base construction effort since World War II,” said Col. Colleen Ryan, commander of the 88th Air Base Wing. The base plans a ground-breaking ceremony in June, and officials anticipate completion of the complex by early 2011. Creation of the 711th HPW March 25—which combines the units of the 311th Human Systems Wing from Brooks City-Base, Tex., with the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Human Effectiveness Directorate—came about as a result of a BRAC 2005 mandate. (Wright-Patterson report by Derek Kaufman)
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.