According to an Aug. 1 report in the News-Journal, the Air Force has formally stipulated that the 179th Airlift Wing will fly the C-27J Spartan Joint Cargo Aircraft, probably beginning in 2012, and until then will fly C-21 Learjets. The 179th is destined to lose its C-130s per BRAC 2005, and USAF officials had signaled last year that the unit would get the Spartan. Additionally, the newspaper reported that the Ohio Adjutant General, Maj. Gen. Greg Wayt, the Air Force might give the 179th AW a formal training unit mission for the C-27.
The $4.26 billion Small Business Innovation Research contracting program widely used by the Air Force went into hibernation as the government shut down Oct. 1, but unless lawmakers strike a deal on reforms, the program could reach an abrupt end.
