Really Major InfestationCall the 910th: There is only one unit in the Defense Department that has full-time, fixed-wing aerial spray capability—Air Force Reserve Command’s 910th Airlift Wing, Youngstown, Ohio. The unit has sent two specially equipped C-130s and 50 crew members to Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi to knock out the mosquitoes and filth flies proliferating since Katrina came through the area. Such pests carry a host of diseases. The Reservists are flying out of Duke Field, Fla., and can cover 60,000 acres per C-130 each day.
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.