The technicians at Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Georgia finished a rush depot overhaul of an Air Force Special Operations Command AC-130U gunship in less than the requested 150 days. A routine scheduled maintenance on a gunship takes 181 days, the ALC did it in 146 days—and that included more than the routine work because the aircraft needed extra work, like repair of its center wing box, which is a problem with older C-130 airframes. Aircraft logistics specialist Winston Slappey summed up the experience: “It was all teamwork. Everyone was pushing on this aircraft.” AFSOC needed the gunship to meet its deployment schedule.
The U.S. military is carrying out intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions along the southern border and off the coast of Mexico using U.S. Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint and U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft as part of the Pentagon’s effort to secure the southern border at the direction of President…