Brig. Gen. Scott Goodwin, Air Mobility Command’s director of operations, led an aircrew that flew the Air Force’s newest C-17 transport from Boeing’s production plant in Long Beach, Calif., to JB Lewis-McChord, Wash. The airplane touched down at McChord on Feb. 20, according to the base’s Feb. 26 release. It joined the 62nd Airlift Wing, which operates McChord’s large complement of C-17s together with Air Force Reserve Command’s 446th AW. By our count, this airplane is the 219th C-17 that Boeing has supplied thus far to the Air Force. Overall, the Air Force has ordered 224 C-17s. (McChord report by TSgt. Sean Tobin) (See also Thinking Globally.)
The emphasis on speed in the Pentagon’s newly unveiled slate of acquisition reforms may come with increased near-term cost increases, analysts say. But according to U.S. defense officials, the new weapons-buying construct provides the military with enough flexibility to prevent runaway budget overruns in major programs.
