COMMENTARY>>C-130 Summit report

By Col. Kirk Lear
314th Airlift Wing vice commander

At the Pope Air Force Base, N.C., C-130 Summit this past week, active duty, Reserve Command and Air National Guard leaders, both fliers and maintainers, discussed their part in helping steer the Air Force’s C-130 community in the next few years. In no specific order, here are a few topics worth sharing with those of you teaching, producing and employing Combat Airlift for our nation:

Increased C-130J programmed flying training: The C-130J pilots and loadmasters that our 48th Airlift Squadron trains (and 314th Maintenance Group produces) are in high demand. Requirements for 314th Airlift Wing graduates will soar as the Air Force’s “slick” C-130J fleet expands more than 200 percent in the next six years. The 48th Airlift Squadron will grow from seven to 14 aircraft to support increased training requirements. Moreover, Air Force Special Operations Command is getting many new specialized J-models, too. As with their “Legacy”/older model crews, those AFSOC fliers will get their first introduction to the C-130J here before completing training in New Mexico. Finally, the international community has increasing interest in the “J,” and in the past year alone, more countries have asked to buy them; in several cases, the Air Force is arranging for some of these new J-owners to train their flyers and maintainers here at The Rock.

In short, the C-130J PFT is expanding rapidly, and the Air Force is growing Little Rock’s infrastructure - another J-model sim, new classroom space at our Center of Excellence, updated squadron and maintenance facilities, plus more C-130J aircraft, instructor crews and maintainers -- to ensure we are right-sized to support this “boom.”

C-130E programmed flying training: Arkansas’ 189th Airlift Wing is well into its multi-year transition from the C-130E to the C-130 avionics modernization program configuration, and continues to be instrumental in the initial development and testing of this substantially updated aircraft that streamlines our C-130H2/2.5/3 configurations. As its day-to-day training mission swaps to training “AMP” across an expected Air Force fleet of 221 aircraft, we’ll surely see changes in “who does what” at the Rock – the 189th, 314th and 19th Airlift Wings are working with headquarters at Air Education and Training Command, Air Mobility Command, Air Force Reserve Command and Air National Guard to find the right balance. With an even more diverse maintenance and crew force than we currently have (E/H, AMP and J), new squadrons and a revised mission for the 62nd Airlift Squadron are possible.

Maintenance challenges to an aging and diverse C-130 airlift fleet. Made more difficult by a heavy deployment schedule, our maintainers are challenged with reduced manpower, supply constraints, and demanding major inspection and modification schedules. Air Force Smart Operations 21 “lean” methodology will soon streamline inspections, reducing aircraft down time, and Congress is considering retiring all the oldest C-130E models a year ahead of schedule.

But even preceding such initiatives, our maintenance professionals yield remarkable mission effective rates on our old jets, better even than those for some much newer aircraft in the U.S. Air Force inventory.

The C-130 Summit attendees left Pope with a better understanding of Combat Airlift’s roadmap, and enthusiastic about our ability to meet the mission.

Tough obstacles for maintenance and operations? The attendees know “we will overcome,” as always.

Not enough “capacity” for new C-130 students? Training innovations and new ways of doing business will get us there.

Reserve, Guard and active-duty airlifters stepped out of the Summit reinvigorated to “get ‘er done,” sure that Little Rock’s nearly three-decade-long Total Force partnership is flexing to meet the challenge.