In a first for the Air National Guard, NORAD and US Northern Command have installed ANG CMSgt. W. Allen Usry as their new senior enlisted advisor, replacing Army Command Sgt. Maj. Daniel Wood, who plans to retire. Usry has been serving as command chief at Continental US NORAD Region-1st Air Force/Air Forces Northern, headquartered at Tyndall AFB, Fla. Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, NORAD/NORTHCOM boss, said during a May 21 ceremony that Usry is “no stranger to the command” and naming him as the new enlisted advisor was “an easy choice.” Usry started his military service in 1982 in the Marine Corps, serving for six years before joining the Oklahoma ANG, in which he first served as a fire protection specialist and then a first sergeant. (NORTHCOM release)
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.