The Air Force Reserve Command plans to translate its traditional associate unit role—supplying airmen to fly and maintain active-duty aircraft—to the Joint Space Operations Center at Vandenberg AFB, Calif. The reserve manpower that will share in operating and maintaining equipment at the space ops center will come from the 939th Air Refueling Wing, which must give up its KC-135 tankers and close up shop in Portland, Ore.
Air Force depots are not typically meant for quick repair jobs, but during Operation Epic Fury, the service moved some of its stateside heavy maintenance capability forward to fix battle-damaged aircraft closer to the fight.
