Westover named sole maintenance center for Reserve C-5s

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WESTOVER AIR RESERVE BASE, Mass. (AFPN) --  Air Force officials announced Dec. 13 that Westover ARB will become the new center for in-depth maintenance on all Air Force Reserve C-5 Galaxy aircraft.

The Air Force will consolidate the eight existing C-5 isochronal inspection facilities into three in order to increase aircraft availability while cutting support costs, Air Mobility Command officials said.

Isochronal inspections are thorough examinations of the entire aircraft. During these ISO inspections, aircraft maintainers look for and repair problems in every system, from nose to tail and wingtip to wingtip.

"C-5 availability will increase due to centrally scheduling the inspection from a fleet-wide perspective and reducing flow days (the number of days it takes to complete one C-5 ISO inspection) to a consistent number across the fleet," said Brig. Gen. Robert H. McMahon, AMC director of logistics.

The general said with no end to the sustained airlift requirements in sight, every C-5 sortie, every pallet moved, is important. He said each additional C-5 brought "into the fight" means more sorties, and more sorties means better support to the warfighter.

"The plan calls for all Air Force C-5 cargo aircraft inspections to consolidate at three Total Force locations: Westover ARB, Dover AFB in Delaware, and an Air National Guard unit to be announced at a later date," said Brig. Gen. Elizabeth A. Grote, AFRC director of logistics at Robins AFB, Ga. "We anticipate being able to realign affected reservists at Wright-Patterson AFB (Ohio) and Lackland AFB (Texas) into vacant positions."

A portion of the active-duty ISO manpower will also be integrated with forces at the Reserve and Guard sites, AMC officials said.

The Air Force operates 111 C-5 Galaxies -- 60 C-5As and 51 C-5Bs. Westover is home to 16 C-5A and B-models. The massive cargo jets, the largest in the Air Force, have been assigned to Westover ARB since 1987.

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