The Air Force announced the 2011 recipients of the Lance P. Sijan Leadership Award. They are: Maj. Laura Dejong, assigned to Patrick AFB, Fla., senior officer category; Capt. Gilbert Wyche II, RAF Lakenheath, Britain, junior officer category; MSgt. Timothy Sterner, JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, senior enlisted category; and SSgt. Nathaniel Hoag, Pope Field, N.C., junior enlisted category. USAF officials will present the award to each of the four airmen at a later date. The Sijan Award is bestowed annually to recognize airmen who demonstrate outstanding leadership abilities while assigned to an organization at the wing level and below. The award carries the name of the first Air Force Academy graduate to receive the Medal of Honor. (See also 2010 Sijan Award winners list.) (To learn more on Sijan, see The Courage of Lance Sijan from Air Force Magazine’s archives.)
The Pentagon has concluded a new agreement to buy laser-guidance kits that turn rockets into drone-killing weapons. BAE Systems and the Defense Department announced a framework deal of up to seven years for 25,000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System guidance kits annually for the U.S. military.