Utah and Oklahoma lawmakers on a visit last week to the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center at Robins AFB, Ga., told the Macon Telegraph that stopping production of C-17s at 180 is wrong. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said, The C-17 is “overutilized today and doing things that were not anticipated. … We need to upgrade the fleet and reach the 220 target.” Joining Hatch in that belief was Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), who told the Georgia paper, “I don’t support [stopping at 180]. Hatch, Inhofe, Sen. Robert Bennett (R-Utah), and Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), members of the Depot Caucus, praised the work of the Georgia ALC, which manages the C-17 among other aircraft, and the other two Air Force ALCs. (The other two centers are Ogden ALC, Hill AFB, Utah, and Oklahoma City ALC, Tinker AFB, Okla.)
The Department of the Air Force has identified 50 programs that will make up the core of its contribution to the Pentagon’s joint all-domain command and control effort, branding them part of the “DAF Battle Network,” according to newly-released budget documents. The DAF Battle Network programs span multiple offices and agencies…