SrA. Colton Read and his wife Jessica got blind-sided with a pleasant surprise Wednesday when they showed up at a housing community in New Braunfels, Tex., only to discover that they were the recipients of a new, mortgage-free home. Read was serving with the 9th Intelligence Squadron at Beale AFB, Calif., when complications from gall bladder surgery led to the amputation of his legs. He and Jessica have been living at Fort Sam Houston, a part of Joint Base San Antonio, while he rehabs at the base’s Center for the Intrepid. “It’s unbelievable. It means the world to me,” said a grateful Read as he toured his new 1.1-acre lot, reported San Antonio’s KENS TV station. Operation Finally Home donated the home. This non-profit organization honors wounded and disabled servicemen, veterans, and widows of fallen soldiers by giving them new homes.
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.
