Air Force deal means jobs for Ga.

The U.S. Air Force’s $40 billion contract to build a new fleet of air tankers may soon fuel a boom of new jobs in Georgia.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting Northrop Grumman, the California-based defense contractor that received the deal, could create 4,200 jobs in the state.

The company has manufacturing outlets in Vidalia, Atlanta and Milledgeville and subcontractors in Dublin and Chamblee.

The contract award has been controversial. U.S.-based Boeing Company and several U.S. lawmakers have protested plan, saying Northrop Grumman and its European partner company would send too many tanker production jobs overseas.

Chambliss attacks Air Force over housing problems

Prompted by a military housing scandal in Georgia Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss is joining the fight to fix the problem. Chambliss is among eight U.S. Senators who have sent a letter to the Air Force.

The letter criticizes the Air Force’s oversight of housing privatization projects at bases in Arkansas, Florida, Massachusetts, and at Moody Air Force base near Valdosta. The letter says poor management has led the projects to be delayed or halted for moths at time, and that they are tens of millions of dollars over budget. The Senators say local communities are “traumatized” and that military families deserve better.

At Georgia’s Moody Air Force Base, 400 homes were supposed to be built for military families, but only two are completed. Chambliss is set to co-sponsor legislation this week to enhance oversight of how the military picks private contractors for housing projects.

Veteran's remains return to U.S.

The remains of an Air Force pilot from Georgia who was killed during a Vietnam War mission in Laos will be returned to his family for burial 35 years after his death.

Major John L. Carroll of Decatur was flying a forward air controller mission over Laos, on November 7th, 1972, when his plane was hit by enemy fire and forced to land. The Department of Defense said today that U.S. helicopters tried to rescue the 32-year-old Carroll, but intense enemy fire forced them away. One pilot saw that Carroll had been fatally wounded. He was buried by local villagers.

Earlier this year, the burial site was excavated and his remains were recovered. Carroll is to be buried with full military honors on November 13th at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.