Air Force Announces Bases to House New Tanker Refueling Aircraft

Air Force News Service

WASHINGTON, April 23, 2014 – Air Force officials today announced two bases selected to house and operate the KC-46A Pegasus aircraft, which will replace the KC-135 refueling tanker.

Altus Air Force Base, Okla., has been selected as the KC-46A’s formal training unit, and McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., is the first active duty-led Pegasus main operating base.

The KC-46A provides improved capability, worldwide navigation and communication, airlift capability on the entire main deck floor, receiver air refueling, improved force protection and survivability, and multipoint air refueling capability.

Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said the KC-46A remains one of the service’s top three acquisition priorities.

“Making a final basing decision is an important step in recapitalizing the tanker fleet,” she said. “We will begin to replace our aging tanker fleet in 2016, but even when the program is complete in 2028, we will have replaced less than half of the current tanker fleet and will still be flying over 200 half-century-old KC-135s.”

Air Force officials noted they analyzed operational considerations, installation attributes, and economic and environmental factors for each location before making a final basing decision.

“The Air Force chose these bases using operational analysis, results of site surveys, and military judgment factors,” said Timothy Bridges, Air Force deputy assistant secretary for installations.

Altus was selected as the formal training unit because it provides great training opportunities, and there is significant benefit of locating KC-46A trainers with both tanker and heavy receiver aircraft for training purposes, he said.

Bridges also explained that Altus was chosen due to better infrastructure capacity and considerably fewer new construction requirements. Since a formal training wing already is based there, he added, less active-duty manpower will be required to stand up the KC-46A training operation.

A final basing decision for the first Air National Guard main operating base is expected this summer, with the first aircraft scheduled to arrive in fiscal year 2018.

“The Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve are vital to accomplishing our air refueling mission,” Bridges said.

“Therefore, the Air Force will also build on the existing classic association with the Air Force Reserve.

Air Force officials noted that McConnell was selected as the first active duty-led operating base for the KC-46A because it has the lowest military construction costs and is located in a region of high air refueling receiver demand. Additionally, officials said, McConnell already has 44 KC-135 refueling aircraft assigned, and replacing those aircraft with 36 KC-46A aircraft will require the lowest manpower adjustments of the candidate installations.

McConnell also is an ideal central location for the new KC-46A Regional Maintenance Training Center, officials added.

“Tankers are the lifeblood of our joint force’s ability to respond to crisis and contingencies,” said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III. “The Pegasus will be capable of day and night operations and enable a rapid, global capability that will support U.S., joint, allied and coalition forces. The aircraft will also underpin our humanitarian missions.”

Welsh said he is committed to ensuring continued support of combatant commander tanker requirements during a tanker recapitalization effort that will last decades by continuing to fully fund upgrades and improvements to the KC-135 fleet.

Altus, McConnell AFBs selected to receive KC-46A Pegasus aircraft

by Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs

4/23/2014 - WASHINGTON -- Air Force officials announced April 23, that Altus Air Force Base, Okla., is the Air Force's KC-46A Pegasus formal training unit and McConnell AFB, Kan., is the first active duty-led Pegasus main operating base.

"The KC-46A Pegasus aerial tanker remains one of our top three acquisition priorities," said Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James. "Making a final basing decision is an important step in recapitalizing the tanker fleet. We will begin to replace our aging tanker fleet in 2016, but even when the program is complete in 2028, we will have replaced less than half of the current tanker fleet and will still be flying over 200 half-century-old KC-135 (Stratotankers)."

Both Altus AFB and McConnell AFB were selected as preferred alternatives in May 2013. The Air Force recently completed the environmental analysis required by the National Environmental Protection Act to provide further information concerning the basing process.

Air Force officials analyzed operational considerations, installation attributes, economic and environmental factors for each location before making a final basing decision. They also explained their rationale for choosing Altus AFB and McConnell AFB.

"The Air Force chose these bases using operational analysis, results of site surveys and military judgment factors," said Timothy Bridges, the Air Force deputy assistant secretary for installations.

Altus was selected as the formal training unit for the KC-46A because it provides great training opportunities, Bridges said. There is significant benefit of collocating KC-46A trainers with both tanker and heavy receiver aircraft for training purposes.

The formal training unit and first main operating base will begin receiving aircraft in fiscal year 2016. A final basing decision for the first Air National Guard main operating base is expected in summer 2014, with the first aircraft scheduled to arrive in fiscal 2018.

Altus AFB also has better infrastructure capacity and requires considerably less new construction, Bridges added.

There is already a formal training wing located at Altus AFB; therefore, less active-duty manpower will be required to stand up the training operation.

"The Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve are vital to accomplishing our air refueling mission," Bridges explained. "Therefore, the Air Force will also build on the existing classic association with the Air Force Reserve."

Officials said McConnell AFB was selected as the first main operating base for the KC-46A because it has the lowest military construction costs and is located in a region of high air refueling receiver demand. McConnell AFB already has 44 KC-135 refueling aircraft assigned. Replacing those aircraft with 36 KC-46A aircraft will require the lowest manpower adjustments of the candidate installations.

"Tankers are the lifeblood of our joint force's ability to respond to crisis and contingencies," said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III. "The Pegasus will be capable of day and night operations and enable a rapid, global capability that will support U.S., joint, allied and coalition forces. The aircraft will also underpin our humanitarian missions."

Welsh also committed to ensuring continued support of combatant commander tanker requirements during a tanker recapitalization effort that will last decades by continuing to fully fund upgrades and improvements to the KC-135 fleet.

As the first KC-46As enter into service, older KC-135s will be retired or transferred.

With the selection of McConnell AFB, the special operations air refueling training mission will remain close to its primary customers in the Southeast. McConnell is also an ideal central location for the new KC-46A Regional Maintenance Training Center.

Subsequent KC-46A decisions will use similar criteria.

The KC-46A will provide improved capability, including boom and drogue refueling on the same sortie, world-wide navigation and communication and airlift capability on the entire main deck floor. It is also capable of receiver air refueling, improved force protection and survivability, and multi-point air refueling capability.

For more information, please contact Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs office at 703-695-0640.

(Information courtesy of Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs)

Pentagon Program Succeeds in Matching Military Spouses With Jobs

By Nick Simeone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 23, 2014 – Despite a national unemployment rate hovering at just under 7 percent, a Pentagon program intended to help unemployed military spouses find jobs -- including positions with Fortune 500 companies -- is surpassing its goals, connecting more than 60,000 military spouses with 220 private- and public-sector partners since the program began three years ago.

The Military Spouse Employment Partnership is designed to help military spouses -- whom Defense Department research shows are, on average, better educated than their civilian counterparts -- reach their career goals, said Meg O’Grady, a senior program analyst in the Pentagon’s Office of Family Policy and Children and Youth.

This can be especially challenging for people married to active duty service members because of frequent relocations and other obligations that fall to military spouses, O’Grady noted.

“Eighty-five percent of military spouses actually have some college, 25 percent of them have a bachelor’s degree or higher, and 10 percent have an advanced degree,” she said. The problem, she said in an interview with American Forces Press Service and the Pentagon Channel, is that it’s often difficult for large employers who want to hire military spouses to find them.

“We know that military spouses make great employees and businesses recognize that,” O’Grady said. “Through the Military Spouse Employment Partnership, we provide a variety of ways for businesses to actually connect with military spouses.” Companies such as Walmart, the nation’s largest employer, as well as other big names in corporate America such as Verizon, AT&T and JP Morgan Chase are marquee brands that O’Grady said also have their eye on service members and their job-seeking spouses.

“When they get a military spouse as an employee, they’re very likely to get that veteran service member once that service member decides to transition, and that actually creates security for that military family,” she said.

The Defense Department has designated May as Military Spouse Appreciation Month to recognize the service and sacrifices made by the nation’s more than 1 million military spouses, a group that O’Grady described as skilled, diverse and motivated by a strong work ethic.

Officials say the inability of a spouse to find employment can affect the well-being of military communities, thereby affecting readiness and retention, which is why the department has been reaching out to corporations, small businesses and organizations to expand the network of potential spousal employers.

“We bring the military spouse the availability of resources and tools for them to find a job whatever the economy might be, because we know that there are employers out there who really value what they bring to the table,” O’Grady said. This is true, she added, regardless of whether those spouses are living on base or off or in the United States or abroad, where it can be more difficult for an American expatriate to find employment because of strict labor laws.

Resources available through the program include education and training, career guidance and mentoring programs. In addition, more than 1.8 million jobs have been posted on the Military Spouse Employment Partnership’s career portal.

“We’ve really made a lot of progress,” O’Grady said. “The White House had given us a goal of 50,000 military spouse hires by 2015, and I’m happy to say today that in 2014, we’re at more than 60,000.”

Army Marksmanship Unit Action Shooting team doubles down in Vegas

By Michael Molinaro

USAMU PAO

LAS VEGAS – Soldiers from the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) Action Shooting team won two titles at the 2014 U.S. Practical Shooting Association Multi-gun National Championships, April 18-20.

Staff Sgt. Daniel Horner won the overall title and first place in the Tactical Ops Division for an unprecedented sixth time, while Sgt. Matthew Sweeney won in the Heavy Metal Tactical Division.

“This is a huge match and being crowned a national champion is very prestigious,” said Sweeney, a Pinckneyville, Ill native. “We train up year-round just to get the title so it’s a great achievement for me.

“We have a great team behind us. We have unlimited support from the chain of command, great gunsmiths and a great unit behind us.”

It has been an impressive April for Horner. The Suffolk, Va.,native started off the month winning the U.S. Special Operations Command International Sniper Competition with teammate Sgt. Tyler Payne. After that, he won his   second straight 3-Gun Nation Pro Series Tour win  before securing this latest national championship in Las Vegas. The win marks his sixth national title in the Tactical Ops Division, the first shooter to ever accomplish the feat in the sports largest division.

“2014 has been good,” Horner said. “No one guy is great but together we can accomplish some pretty good things. We all support each other to make good decisions and come up with a good plan. You are still on your own when the clock goes off, but we keep each other focused on the goal at hand.”

All five USAMU shooters who competed this year finished in the top five in their respective divisions.

Unlike other competitions that focus on short-range shooting and shooting on the move, the Practical Shooting Association Multi-gun National Championships test shooters using odd-positions, barricades, stage planning, and long-range rifle targets in addition to moving quickly through stages.

“This year the shooting was difficult, but the speed at which you had to make the shots was so high that you couldn’t make any mistakes,” Horner said. “You would run out of shotgun ammo at some point if you missed one shot and (that’s a ten point penalty.)”

Highlighting the difference between AMU shooters and their civilian counterparts, after the awards ceremony, Horner and Sweeny jumped on a plane to train Soldiers preparing for deployment. Besides showcasing the very best of Army skills in competition, the unit applies lessons learned from marksmanship competitions to training Soldiers for combat and raising the Army’s Marksmanship proficiency.

Even after six national titles and a ranking as one of the best sniper teams currently in the world, Horner said he’ll never get to a point where he thinks he knows it all.

“I learn something every day,” Horner concluded. “I can learn something from every single person shooting and use it to help someone else or help me.”

Obangame Express 2014 Concludes

By Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Weston Jones, Obangame Express Public Affairs

LAGOS, Nigeria (NNS) -- LAGOS, Nigeria - Exercise Obangame Express 2014, the multinational maritime exercise in the Gulf of Guinea, concluded April 23.

Obangame Express, which began April 16, provided African, European and Atlantic partner naval forces the opportunity to work together, refine tactics, and improve cooperation in order to help Gulf of Guinea nations deter piracy and other maritime threats.

"I have observed actions and proceedings of the exercise and am happy with the outcome," said Vice Admiral Usman O. Jibrin, chief of staff of the Nigerian Navy, who spoke at the closing ceremony in Lagos, Nigeria. "In our part of the world, the maritime environment is threatened by piracy, poaching, smuggling, oil theft and other transnational crimes. Exercise Obangame Express helps West African countries combat these challenges."

Focusing on counter-piracy and maritime security operations, the exercise included a wide variety of scenarios for participating forces to test a variety of skills, including at sea boarding procedures, queries, medical familiarization, air operations, communication drills and regional information sharing.

"Obangame Express allowed participating nations the chance to build relationships and interact at every level in spite of different cultural and professional backgrounds and languages," said U.S. Navy Capt. Sueann Schorr, senior U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa representative in Douala, Cameroon, one of two operational areas for the exercise. "We all share the same desire for maritime security and each country had skills to share in this exercise."

During the at-sea phase of the exercise, 11 nations were represented on board 36 different vessels hosting 20 different boarding teams. The boarding teams completed more than 40 boarding drills during three days of operations. Additionally, mmaritime operations centers throughout the theater were manned and contributed to common operational picture.

"We're very pleased with the outcomes at a tactical level, but more importantly it's the sharing of knowledge and the cooperation that we saw among partner nations during the exercise that really made this a success," said Lt. Cmdr. John Petrasanta, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa exercise planner.

Twenty nations participated in this year's exercise, including Angola, Belgium, Benin, Brazil, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, France, Gabon, Germany, Ghana, The Netherlands, Nigeria, Portugal, Republic of Congo, Sao Tome & Principe, Spain, Togo, Turkey and the United States.

The exercise, which has occurred annually since 2011, is one of four U.S. Africa Command-sponsored regional Express-series exercises under the international collaborative security cooperation program Africa Partnership Station (APS).

CNP: Sea Duty to bring more Money and Opportunity for Sailors

By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Elliott Fabrizio, Chief of Naval Personnel Public Affairs

NORFOLK (NNS) -- The Chief of Naval Personnel (CNP) and Fleet Master Chief April Beldo, Moran's senior enlisted advisor, addressed Sailors and answered questions at the Association of the United States Navy's 1st Annual Career Development Symposium (AUSN), April 23 in Norfolk, Va.

Vice Adm. Bill Moran, CNP, spoke about the importance of sea duty, upcoming advancement changes and stressed the need for Sailors to look out for one another.

"Post Iraq and Afghanistan, our Navy will continue to be out forward-where we need to be, when it matters," said Moran. "A key part of making sure those ships and units are ready will be their manning."

Moran told the audience that his office remains focused on filling critical gaps at sea and that the Navy has reduced those gaps by approximately 50 percent in the last two years.

"We are working hard to demonstrate how we value service at sea-not just talking about it," said Moran. "Improving at-sea manning, reducing 'cross decks', paying Sailors more for going and staying at sea are all tangible examples of our commitment."

In addition to the Career Sea Pay (CSP) increase, which takes effect on May 1, Moran said that the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) and he are working to institute an additional allowance for Sailors deployed longer than 190 days.

"Your leadership wants to reward you for the sacrifices you and your families make during the longer and tougher deployments that we expect for the foreseeable future," Moran told the roughly 150 Sailors in the audience.

Responding to questions, CNP and Fleet discussed the latest news on advancements and retention. Moran said upcoming changes to the Final Multiple Score, expected to be announced next month, will increase the focus on performance and the opportunities for Sailors excelling in their job.

"The best chances our Sailors have to advance and succeed are at sea--the changes we have in the works for the Final Multiple Score and for CAP (Command Advancement Program) are intended to recognize performance and further incentivize sea duty."

CNP closed by reminding Sailors about the importance of looking out for each other and using bystander intervention to prevent suicide, sexual assault and destructive decisions.

"If we can't trust each other as 'Shipmates', we are in real trouble," said Moran. "If we are going to continue to be successful as a Navy, we have to be able to rely on each other-up and down the chain of command."