Last week Air Education and Training Command awarded Pueblo, Colo.-based Doss Aviation the contract for the Air Force’s revised pilot screening and training program and that has left Selma, Ala., and Midland, Tex., wondering why. Both communities worked to get the $178 million deal. Selma teamed with Lockheed Martin and Midland with DynCorp, both defense contractors with significant training experience. According to the Montgomery Advertiser, even active support by Alabama’s two Republican Senators, Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions, could not secure the contract. Doss Aviation told the newspaper that the answer is simple, “We won on merit.”
As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA's Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.