Maintainers at Ogden Air Logistics Center in Utah decided they needed a better way to work on C-130 airlifters, rather than suspending themselves from the ceiling via a harness and cable. Some guys still have to strap up, but most get to move around the aircraft with much more freedom on the specially built C-130 maintenance stands that snug the cargo hauler around its wings and down the fuselage. Besides offering a solid work area, officials say, it enables different skill groups to work together, thus speeding up overall maintenance.
A new report from the Government Accountability Office calls for the Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer to have budget certification authority over the military services’ research and development accounts—a move the services say would add a burdensome and unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.
