The Air Force awarded pilot wings posthumously to 2nd Lt. Alec Littler, presenting the wings to his father Bob Littler during the graduation ceremony Nov. 7 for Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program Class 08-08 at Sheppard AFB, Tex. Lieutenant Little was killed in the May 1 crash of a T-38C trainer that an accident investigation board later attributed to errors by the instructor pilot on the aircraft. The IP also died in the crash. Both Littler’s parents attended the graduation ceremony. “We’re here because we want to represent Alec,” said his father and his mother added, “He would not have wished to be anywhere else.” (Sheppard report by 2nd Lt. Raeanna Elms)
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.