Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) on Thursday urged Air Force Secretary Michael Donley to station an additional eight C-17 transports with the New York Air National Guard’s 105th Airlift Wing in Newburgh, south of Albany. Her proposal would increase the total number of C-17s slated for beddown at Stewart ANG Base to 16. Stewart “is the ideal place to base an additional eight C-17s,” she stated in a release discussing the letter that she sent Donley on this topic. The 105th AW is scheduled to lose its 13 C-5As as the Air Force retires some of the C-5A fleet. To replace them, there are already plans to bring eight C-17s to Stewart. However, Gillibrand wrote Donley that the base “is the perfect candidate” for more C-17s and “has the infrastructure, personnel, and community desire” to accommodate the extra eight.
U.S. Air Force F-15C Eagles have roared out of Barnes Air National Guard Base, Mass., for the last time. The 104th Fighter Wing’s last three F-15Cs departed the base Oct. 23 for the “Boneyard” at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., ending the aircraft's era on the frontlines of homeland defense.
