“It can do it all, anywhere in the world.” — U.S. Air Force Capt. Travis Tompkins, C-17 aircraft commander with the 62nd Operations Group at Joint Base Lewis-McChord director for the 728th Airlift Squadron and another of the Reserve pilots on the Moses Lake training hop, even has carried a firetruck on a C-17. The donated truck was transported to the Nicaraguan city of Condega so it could start its own volunteer fire department. The nearest fire department to that city is 45 minutes away. Regardless of the mission, the C-17 has been the airlift workhorse of the U.S. Air Force, in wartime and in peace, for more than 20 years. “It can do it all, anywhere in the world. Like FedEx, if it fits, it ships,” says Capt. Travis Tompkins, a C-17 aircraft commander with the 62nd Operations Group, an active duty unit at McChord. Boeing delivered the first C-17 to the Air Force on June 14, 1993, and the service took delivery of its 223rd and final C-17 in September 2013. In addition, C-17s are operated by the air forces of Australia, Canada, India, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom, and by the Strategic Airlift Capability, a consortium of 12 nations, 10 of which are member states of NATO, that share C-17s for their strategic airlift needs. Although production of the C-17 in Long Beach, Calif., is ending—the Photo: Thirteen C-17s fly over the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia during low-level tactical training in December 2013. The aircraft were based at Joint Base Charleston, S.C. U.S. Air Force Febrau ry 2015 27
Frontiers February 2015 Issue
To see the actual publication please follow the link above