TSgt. Brian Abraham on Oct. 17 became the first aerial porter in the Air Force to power up a C-17 airlifter, reports Amn. Melissa White. Abraham, an instructor with the 437th Aerial Port Squadron, is one of only two aerial porters certified to power up a C-17; the other is TSgt. Patricia McClure, another 437th APS instructor. Both Abraham and McClure completed an 18-hour aerial port expeditor program specifically designed to teach aerial porters the basics for applying external power to the C-17, a qualification normally reserved for aircraft maintainers. The airmen attempting to load a C-17 at Charleston on Oct. 17 needed power to load a C-17 from McChord, but with no maintainers available, Abraham took the call. The APEX program is under test for about a year, then Air Mobility Command could extend the training to other bases as a means to save time for loadmasters and maintainers.
The Air Force wants to pump more than $12 billion over the next five years into its new affordable long-range missiles program and recently asked industry to push the flights of some of those munitions beyond 1,200 miles.