Workers completed the first permanent C-130 maintenance hangar in Afghanistan at Bagram Airfield this week. Sheltering Herks and maintainers of the 455th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron from Afghanistan’s harsh climate, the double bay, 60,000-square-foot facility will “boost the C-130 sortie rate and mission performance by allowing maintenance to continue working during inclement weather,” said Lt. Col. Phillip Howard, 455th Civil Engineer Squadron commander. Costing a total of $18 million, USAF personnel constructed the hangar in two years’ time. It opened for use Monday. “One of the most critical elements of what we supply is what the C-130 fleet does. . . .This facility takes our ability to supply the ground force commander with combat capability to the next level,” added 455th AEW Commander Brig. Gen. Jack Briggs. (Bagram report by SrA. Sheila deVera)
Republicans aim to funnel billions of dollars into some of the Air Force’s top-priority programs as part of a divisive bill the GOP may be able to enact without Democratic support.