Air
Mobility Command chief Gen. Ray Johns said Tuesday that his command will seek to bring all its C-17s up to the current production-line standard, the Block 18. Johns told reporters attending AFA’s Air & Space Conference that this will vastly simplify the process of assigning C-17s to missions, since they will all have similar capabilities in range and other performance. Early aircraft will get the extended-range fuel tanks, new computers, and other improved features now standard and planned for the 222nd and last USAF C-17. Johns said the C-17 has a 30,000-hour service life, and, once the fleet has been brought up to the Block 18 standard, AMC will begin to explore fleetwide upgrades that might be included in a pre-planned product improvement program.
Air Force Basic Military Training leaders say changes implemented as part of BMT 2.0 are generating positive results so far—especially when it comes to creating “airminded” new Airmen.


