The 615th Contingency Response Wing at Travis AFB, Calif., last week activated the 571st Mobility Support Advisory Squadron. The new unit, only the second of its kind in the Air Force, will employ teams of expeditionary air mobility air advisors throughout the Caribbean, and Central and South America to build relationships with partner air forces and help them increase their mobility capacity to respond to humanitarian crises and disasters, reported The Reporter of Vacaville, Calif. The unit stood up on May 20. By December 2012, the squadron will have more than 100 airmen; today, there are about 15. Travis’ new squadron mirrors the 818th MSAS that began operations in April at JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., to work with partner air forces in Africa.
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.