The Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Georgia has converted the first of 12 standard C-130Hs to special operations configuration and done it at a pace that the chief of Air Force Special Operations Command, Lt. Gen. Michael Wooley, calls “awesome,” according to the Macon (Ga.) Telegraph. The ALC turned over the first MC-130W to AFSOC during a ceremony June 28. (There’s more in this WRALC news story.) Earlier this year, the Air Force began an effort to increase its buy of C-130J model Hercules because of the need to convert more older C-130s to special ops status.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach told lawmakers Apr. 30 that the service’s biggest airlifter, the C-5 Galaxy, has a 37 percent mission capable rate—one of several challenges facing the mobility fleet.