Gen. Norton Schwartz, head of US Transportation Command, said Thursday he doesn’t really care if the new C-27J Joint Cargo Aircraft has “Army” or “Air Force” written on the side. “As a Joint guy, I don’t care who owns it, as long as I can task it,” Schwartz said at a Capitol Hill symposium. Pressed, however, as to whether he feels the Air Force should be in charge of all fixed-wing airlift, Schwartz said it would be OK with him, but the Air Force would have to be willing to support the Army in the way the Army wants to be supported. He said that might involve assigning a C-27J and an aircrew to an Army brigade commander for several weeks, something USAF might find it hard to do. “We can’t just do it our way all the time,” said Schwartz, who wears Air Force blue.
The Air Force's new Aircraft Readiness Unit will maintain and provide Collaborative Combat Aircraft for operations, but won’t serve as a “schoolhouse” teaching fighter pilots how to manage these escort drones.