USAF officials want to fill 40 critical positions with former service personnel who have served in specific career fields: airborne or ground cryptology linguistics; combat control; tactical air command and control; survival, evasion, resist, and escape operations; pararescue; explosive ordnance disposal. The last field listed in an Air Force news release is a strange bedfellow for these combat-type jobs—premier or regional band. Go figure.
The Air Force on March 12 awarded contract modifications worth a combined $2.4 billion to Boeing to procure an undisclosed number of E-7 Wedgetail as part of the program's engineering and manufacturing development phase and continue work on the airborne battle management aircraft’s radar.