Members of Air Force Reserve Command’s 445th Airlift Wing at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, will begin their C-17 training on Thursday with an aircraft on loan from JB Charleston, S.C. A 445th AW aircrew will fly the C-17 from Charleston to Wright-Patterson, according to a wing release. The unit will use this C-17 as a maintenance trainer. A second C-17 is scheduled to arrive in Ohio next month to provide 445th AW aircrews with a training platform. Already 32 maintainers from the wing have trained at Charleston and 10 pilots and six loadmasters—equating to three C-17 aircrews—have completed their training at Altus AFB, Okla., said wing officials. The Air Force intends to bring eight C-17s to Wright-Patterson by the end of Fiscal 2012 to replace the wing’s 10 C-5As as part of a broader plan to retire up to 22 C-5As fleet-wide.
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.