The last MC-130E Combat Talon I to enter programmed depot maintenance before the MC-130 fleet is retired has nearly finished its final refit, according to officials at Robins AFB, Ga., home of the depot. Tail No. 62-1843—the oldest Combat Talon I still in service—was in “pretty bad shape upon arrival,” noted Kevin Johnson, 560th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron MC-130 line supervisor. “There is generally a good bit of work for everyone involved—structural and avionics-wise,” added George Hoffman, 560th AMXS PDM flight chief. Consistently deployed, often supporting clandestine operations in austere conditions, the Combat Talons “have a lot of cracks and corrosion,” said Hoffman. Robins took PDM responsibility for Air Force Special Operations Command’s fleet of 14 MC-130Es from the Big Safari program office in the 1990s. The first MC-130E arrived at Robins for PDM in 1998, according to base officials. Aircraft 1843 is expected to leave the depot in early April, they said. New MC-130Js are replacing the MC-130Es. (Robins report by Jenny Gordon)
As the Air Force readied for its June 21-22 strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the service was also putting its Agile Combat Employment strategy into action, dispersing combat aircraft and Airmen from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in preparation for a possible Iranian retaliatory attack. Some defense experts say…
