Some 16 Air Force medics deployed to El Salvador for a US Southern Command medical readiness exercise that ended Dec. 13 treated 7,300 patients on the country’s southeastern coast. They got translation assistance from Peace Corp volunteers and spouses of US military members on embassy duty. SOUTHCOM plans to run 64 similar exercises in 17 Caribbean, Central, and South American countries through September 2008.
Boeing’s receipt of the 10th lot contract award for the KC-46 Pegasus this week leaves just three lots left to complete the Air Force’s buy of the tanker, although a further buy of 75 additional aircraft as a “bridge” to the Next-Generation Aerial-refueling System (NGAS) seems increasingly likely.