Air Force Secretary Mike Donley has previously stated his position that the Air Force’s fleet of C-5s and C-17s — two of the most frequently used strategic airlifters — is large enough and does not need to be expanded.
A Department of Defense report from February, the Mobility Capabilities and Requirements Study commissioned by Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn, hammers home the point: The Air Force has enough airlifters.
According to the report, even if the United States continues to be involved in two “simultaneous large-scale land campaigns” into 2016, the Air Force will have 66 more C-130s than the 335 it would require.
“Inter- and intra-theater airlift capabilities ... are largely satisfactory,” the report noted.
Last month in its fiscal 2011 “posture statement,” the Air Force requested nearly $2 billion to procure 24 more C-130s — presumably to replace its war-taxed fleet — but no money to buy more C-5s and C-17s.
Currently, the Air Force has 111 C-5s and 223 C-17s, according to the Air Force Association.
The Air Force also requested $39 billion to sustain its existing C-17 fleet, rather than procure more airlifters.
Many of the Air Force’s airlifters are maintained at Robins Air Force Base.
Robins unit returns home after humanitarian work in Haiti
Six members of the 53rd Combat Communications Squadron, a Robins Air Force Base unit, returned home from Haiti this past week. They had been in the country as a part of the U.S. military’s humanitarian response to the Jan. 12 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people.
The team was sent to Haiti on Jan. 31 and was involved in providing communications support for military and civilian personnel operating in the country. The team also was involved in bringing medical aid to more than 2,500 patients, according to a Robins Air Force Base news release.
Marshall chairman of U.S. Military Academy’s Board of Visitors
Rep. Jim Marshall, D-Ga., was named the U.S. Military Academy’s chairman of the Board of Visitors. The board oversees morale, equipment, curriculum and other related issues of the academy.
Four other congressmen and four senators also serve on the Board of Visitors, according to the U.S. Military Academy’s Web site.
Marshall is not a West Point graduate but did serve in the U.S. Army in the Vietnam War. Marshall’s father and grandfather both graduated from the U.S. Military Academy and are buried at West Point with his mother and grandmother. He lived at West Point for three years when his father taught at the school.
Warner Robins real estate agents plan to make over airman’s home
Freida McCullough and Jill Olf, two Warner Robins area real estate agents, are offering to make over two rooms of a Robins Air Force Base airman’s home this May. The makeover will happen on May 22 and will be the subject of a reality show to air on WMGT.
What home they will make over has not been determined. McCullough and Olf are accepting letters and videos from prospective families explaining why their home should be renovated.
Applications should be sent to 4851 Russell Parkway, Warner Robins, GA 31088.
To contact military writer Thomas L. Day, call 744-4489.
E-Mail
Print
Reprint|license
