Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) has reportedly joined the push to have a squadron of eight C-17s stationed at Stewart ANGB in Newburgh, N.Y., to replace the 12 C-5As that currently are assigned to the base’s 105th Airlift Wing. The Mid-Hudson News Network reported Aug. 8 that Clinton, sent a letter on that same day to Gen. Norton Schwartz, newly confirmed to be the next Chief of Staff, urging him to consider assigning to Stewart eight of the additional 15 C-17s that the Air Force will receive with funding provided in the recently passed Fiscal 2008 war supplemental. Clinton said given that the base’s C-5As are not slated to get new engines and reliability upgrades, it would “better aid the Air Force in meeting the global challenges facing our nation” by stationing the C-17s at Stewart.
The two prototypes for the Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft program have started ground testing, Air Force Chief Staff Gen. David W. Allvin announced May 1, ahead of a planned first flight this summer.