An expeditionary contingent of more than 200 airmen and several B-2 bombers returned home to Whiteman AFB, Mo., in early June after a four-month deployment to Andersen AFB, Guam. The 393rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, as it was known, completed about 120 sorties, flying more than 700 hours during the stint at Guam. The deployed airmen included members of Whiteman’s active duty 509th Bomb Wing and the Air National Guard’s 131st Bomb Wing that cooperates in the operations and maintenance of the B-2s. The B-2s went to Guam as part of a normal rotation of US combat forces to the Pacific where the US has maintained a continual bomber presence since 2004. The B-2 force was relieved on Guam by an expeditionary B-52 unit from Minot AFB, N.D. (Whiteman report by A1C Montse Ramirez)
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.