It’s official. The Defense Department will announce the winner of the Air Force’s KC-X tanker contract on Thursday afternoon at 5:10 p.m. East Coast time. Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz will join Deputy Defense Secretary Bill Lynn and Pentagon acquisition executive Ash Carter in the Pentagon briefing room to crown either Boeing’s 767-based NewGen Tanker or EADS North America’s A330-based tanker model as the winner. Stay tuned for more coverage.
Gene Smith, Former POW and AFA Chair, Dies at 91
Jan. 19, 2026
Lt. Col. Richard “Gene” Smith, who overcame five and a half years as a prisoner of war in the notorious Hanoi Hilton from 1967 until 1973, died Jan. 16. He was one day short of his 91st birthday.
