The West Virginia Air National Guard’s 167th Airlift Wing completed its final C-5 isochronal inspection on March 6, wrapping up an eight-year mission that was the first of its kind in the Air Force, according to a March 10 wing release. The wing served as one of three regional isochronal inspection hubs, along with Dover AFB, Del., and Westover ARB, Mass., conducting preventative maintenance on the massive cargo aircraft every 420 days. “We started this process from scratch,” said MSgt. James Buckley, a 167th isochronal coordinator. “We only had the C-5s for about a year when we received the regional isochronal mission … we had to build all that up ourselves with a small group of people.” The Air Force is retiring many of its older C-5s and the 167th is transitioning its fleet to the C-17 Globemaster III, states the release. In its eight years as a regional hub, the inspection team, which was mostly comprised of members of the 167th Maintenance Group, averaged a 39-day inspection cycle per aircraft, having completed a total of 63 aircraft from eight different bases, states the release.
NASA Boss: Race to Moon Has National Security Stakes
Sept. 15, 2026
NASA is pushing hard to get astronauts back to the moon by 2028—and the urgency is driven in no small part by the national security implications of doing so before China does, Administrator Jared Isaacman said Sept. 15.
