The West Virginia Air National Guard’s final C-5A Galaxy airlifter flew to the boneyard last week, completing the 167th Airlift Wing’s conversion to the C-17 Globemaster III, unit officials announced. Lockheed Martin saluted the conclusion of a 52-year partnership with the wing, spanning the C-121 Super Constellation, C-130 Hercules, and finally the C-5, during the ceremony marking the transition to a Boeing aircraft. “Today we pause to celebrate a sustained and successful era of iron and partnership, but it is the people who move the iron that are the most important,” said 167th AW Commander Col. Shaun Perkowski during a May 20 ceremony in Martinsburg. The 167th AW is the last of three ANG units to transition to the C-17 as part of the Air Force’s plan to retire its oldest Galaxies and convert the remainder to C-5M Super Galaxy standards. The unit has received seven of its eight C-17s, the last of which is slated to arrive in July, according to the unit.
As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA's Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.