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FB: More training. TRANSCOM chief says mobility crews need time to train up following high tempo, specialized operations.
The Air Force's mobility crews have been busy: answering calls globally for high-tempo operations in Afghanistan, combating the Islamic State group and working to contain Ebola., providing specialized capability, but lessening abilities in other areas that need to be address, the head of U.S. Transportation Command told lawmakers today.
Now, both airmen and aircraft need a refresh, the head of U.S. Transportation Command told lawmakers Thursday.
These missions within the past year have shown the increased demand on Air Mobility Command. The Air Force's mobility, both airlift and refueling, fleet is positioned to fight one large-scale operation and support forces in another region, and those crews have been busy, Air Force Gen. Paul Selva said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday.
"Post-surge, the air and ground crews will need time to regain proficiency in specific skill sets that are not being utilized during these contingency operations," Air Force Gen. Paul Selva said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Selva said in testimony to the committee. "Resetting these skills will restore units to the level of capability commensurate with future combat mission requirements."
In addition to the people, the aircraft need updates and modernization to be ready for future missions, Selva said.
The service's fiscal 2016 budget request calls for a total of 308 C-130s and 479 tankers, along with modernization to the C-5 and C-17 fleets to replace aging components and adding new avionic systems.
TRANSCOM's biggest acquisition project, the KC-46A, is on track and has met contractual requirements, Selva said. However, this week Brig. Gen. Duke Richardson, the program executive officer for tankers, said Tuesday he is "not comfortable" the tanker's first flight will happen as planned in April. Instead he is now looking at a more general date of the second quarter of the calendar year, extending to the end of June.
Boeing in December successfully flew the first development configuration of the plane, and the full KC-46A configuration was expected to fly next month. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday that there have been some "testing and integration" challenges. Boeing's next contractual deadline is to have 18 aircraft by Aug. 19, she said.
"The company feels that they can still make it, that, yes, they've used up margin, but it isn't to the point where they're going to miss that deadline," James said.
