First Time A New Aircraft Exclusively For ANG Use
For the first time, Air National
Guard aircrews will be the sole operators of a new aircraft
straight off the assembly line.
The C-27J Spartan, the latest propeller-driven airlifter, is an
"extremely rugged" aircraft, designed for austere environments,
said Air Force officials. It is about half the size of a C-130
Hercules and has 3.5 cargo pallet positions. "It is the first time
in U.S. Air Force history where the service acquired a new airframe
solely owned, operated and maintained by the Air National Guard,"
said Lt. Col. Chris Beckman, the ANG's aviation planning and
execution chief.
In April, through Resource Management Decision 802, Defense
Secretary Robert Gates moved the C-27J program and its related
direct support mission from the Army to the Air Force.
Gen. George Casey, the chief of staff of the Army, supported
Secretary Gates' decision saying "we need the capability to
re-supply our forces. We do not have to fly the planes to get
that." He added that flying fixed-wing aircraft is not the
Army's core competency.
Since that time, representatives of the Air Force, Air Mobility
Command and the Air National Guard have taken a serious approach to
building the program, officials said. "Making a switch like this is
no small affair, especially at this phase in the acquisition
process," said Lt. Col. Gene Capone, AMC's C-27J test manager at
the Joint Program Office.
C-27J Spartan
He added that the Army lost its fiscal year 2010 monies for the
C-27J due to RMD 802, so the Air Force will fund the Army's
completion of the Multi-Service Operational Test and Evaluation, or
MOT&E. "ANG pilots and loadmasters from the 179th Airlift Wing
(in Mansfield, Ohio) and the 175th Wing (in Baltimore) will be the
first operational C-27J crews to be trained and deployed and are
critical participants in the upcoming MOT&E," Colonel Beckman
said. "The MOT&E, which is scheduled for April 2010, will
determine if the C-27J program is ready for deployment and domestic
operations."
Two Army National Guard units, Company H, 171st Aviation
Regiment from Georgia and 1st Battalion, 245th Airfield Operations
Battalion from Oklahoma, also will participate in the
MOT&E.
Air Force officials will field 24 C-27J's at ANG units in the
following locations: Baltimore, Mansfield, Ohio, Fargo, North
Dakota, Bradley Air Field, Connecticut, Battle Creek, Michigan, and
Meridian, Mississippi.
C-27J Spartan
"The ANG has played a critical role in the development of the
C-27J roadmap to include basing, personnel, aircraft delivery, Air
Force instruction and technical order development and review,
service transfer and planning for operational execution," Colonel
Beckman said.
To prove the direct support concept for transporting U.S. Army
time-sensitive and mission-critical payloads, the Ohio ANG's 179AW
is leading a test which began several months ago. Following
pre-deployment training and integration with an Army Combat
Aviation Brigade, the unit's C-130s recently deployed in support of
Operation Iraqi Freedom.
"All of this is being done well within the new current execution
model of 24 months that all of our forces now live in," Colonel
Beckman said. "For example, we are already looking at mobilization
packages and have not yet seen a tail or trained crew."
ANN Salutes Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, National Guard Bureau, and
Tech. Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol of Air Mobility Command Public
Affairs.