Air Force Special Operations Command is moving its new C-145 training aircraft to the boneyard as it reduces its fleet to depend more on leasing aircraft for training.

The Air Force announced this week the 919th Special Operations Maintenance Group is moving 11 of its C-145s from Duke Field, Florida, to the boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The service is keeping five C-145s at the base for the 6th Special Operations Squadron at the base, which is tasked with training militaries across the globe, AFSOC Commander Lt. Gen. Bradley Heithold said in March.

Instead of maintaining the C-145 fleet, the command is looking at leasing various aircraft for training international militaries as opposed to purchasing each of those aircraft.

The units at Duke are not seeing a decrease in training demand, according to the Air Force.

"The operations tempo remains the same," Maj. Terrell Eikner, the commander of the 919th Special Operations Maintenance Squadron, said in a release this week. "We just have fewer aircraft to meet those demands."

In November, the squadron will receive the first C-146A Wolfhound, a military version of the Dornier 328 commuter airliner, for training and other missions. The command has flown the aircraft since 2011, and it has deployed for special operations across four geographic commands since, according to the Air Force. The service will eventually field 17 of the aircraft. The aircraft has a longer range and can carry more passengers and a heavier payload for operational missions.

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