The Air Force anticipates releasing the list of candidate basing locations for the Light Mobility Aircraft next month, service officials announced Wednesday. Following that will come the list of preferred locations in the first quarter of 2011 and then the final basing decisions in early 2012, once the environmental impact analyses are completed, they said. Basing criteria include mission requirements, training requirements, airspace, facilities and infrastructure, support capacity, environmental impacts, and cost. Air Force officials will also consider factors such as coordination with the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Command. The Air Force is acquiring a fleet of LiMA platforms in order to train partner air forces in the operation of a small-sized airlifter that can fly in and out of austere areas.
The last remaining T-1 Jayhawk at JBSA-Randolph, Texas, took its final flight to the "Boneyard" at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., on July 15. The 99th Flying Training Squadron will train pilots using T-6 and simulator until it gets T-7 Red Hawk in fiscal 2026.