The first 19 airmen from the now-inactivated 911th Air Refueling Squadron at Grand Forks AFB, N.D., are slated to arrive at the unit’s new home at Seymour-Johnson AFB, N.C., next month, reports SrA. Brandon Rizzo. BRAC 2005 mandated that Grand Forks give up its KC-135 tankers and the 911th ARS is the first of the 319th Air Refueling Wing to be inactivated. The 911th ARS actually will be coming home to North Carolina because the unit served there from 1958 until 1994 when it moved to North Dakota. However, as we reported earlier, now it will serve as the first tanker active associate unit, working with Air Force Reserve Command’s 916th ARW. The Air Force plans to reactivate the 911th ARS in April, but the majority of the unit’s personnel won’t arrive until next summer. Meanwhile, Grand Forks just may get tankers again when the service finally starts fielding a KC-135 replacement.
Boeing received a $2.47 billion Air Force contract Nov. 25 for 15 more KC-46s, bringing to 183 the number of Pegasus tankers on contract to all customers, foreign and domestic. The new contract—for Lot 12 of the initially planned KC-46 buy—is to be completed by 2029.
