The US earlier this month signed the memorandum of understanding establishing the NATO strategic airlift capability program, the Air Force announced yesterday. Under this program, 15 nations, including 13 NATO countries and partners Finland and Sweden, will jointly operate three C-17s transports out of Papa AB, Hungary, starting with the first aircraft late this year. According to a
June 26 statement from Bruce Lemkin, who runs USAF’s international affairs office, Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England signed the document on behalf of the US on June 11 during a meeting of alliance defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels. The US joins Bulgaria, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Sweden on the list of signatories, according to a
NATO release from the event. Lemkin said the remaining eight nations (the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Poland, and Romania) are expected to sign the MOU within the next month. The US is providing one C-17 and the partner nations are purchasing the two remaining aircraft under a proposed foreign military sales arrangement that the Pentagon
informed the Congress of in May. Current planning calls for delivery of the first C-17 in November and for having the second aircraft and third aircraft in place in early and mid 2009, respectively. SAC members will employ the C-17s to support national, NATO, European Union, or United Nations military operations as well as humanitarian relief.
eek's House Oversight and Government Reform hearing into the status of the Kaiserslautern Military Community Center project, lawmakers and the Government Accountability Office expressed continuing skepticism over delays, construction quality, and cost, which GAO says could rise above $200 million, some $80 million higher than originally projected. The GAO analysts in testimony did acknowledge that the Air Force "has made significant improvements in its oversight and internal controls." However, they said that since the GAO's review in June 2007 there has been limited construction progress—the mega-complex with hotel, theater, restaurants, and retail stores was to open in 2006—and there are "still no accurate estimates of how much the total project will cost or when it will be completed." In his testimony, Maj. Gen. Marc Rogers, vice commander of US Air Forces in Europe, noted that USAFE has beefed up its oversight capability, creating a Resident Director Office with a staff of 29, but the real changes must come from the German state entity charged with its construction. The failure on the part of the state agency to overcome management failures led USAFE, said Rogers, to ratchet up the issue to the federal level, enlisting the help of the US Embassy in Berlin. Unfortunately, the recovery pace has been slow. As Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), panel chairman, said that despite Air Force assurances otherwise, "The project has gone further over budget and has been further delayed." There are still ongoing criminal investigations into K-Town that involve US officials.