How Do These 60-Year-Old USAF Jets Age So Gracefully?

How Do These 60-Year-Old USAF Jets Age So Gracefully?

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb.—They were manufactured in the early 1960s and are deployed almost constantly around the world. But the Air Force’s fleet of RC-135 intelligence and reconnaissance aircraft enjoy some of the highest mission capable rates in U.S. military aviation.

“We’re flying this fleet very hard, we’re currently at about 108 percent above where we think we should be,” in terms of operational load, Col. Kyle Clement, commander of Offutt’s 55th Maintenance Group, told Air & Space Forces Magazine. 

“Not only are the metrics looking good, but the jets are cooperating; we’re able to fly more than we think,” he added.

With 28 total airframes total, the fleet has several variants—17 RC-135V/W Rivet Joints act as mobile listening posts, collecting real-time electronic and signals intelligence; three RC-135S Cobra Balls study ballistic missile activity; two RC-135U Combat Sent aircraft locate, identify, and analyze radar signals; three WC-135R/W Constant Phoenix jets collect samples of the atmosphere to detect nuclear weapons testing; and three TC-135Ws serve as training aircraft.

How the Air Force manages to keep them all flying at extremely high rates is a combination of extensive maintenance and modernization.

Every few years, each jet is sent to the depot at Greenville, Texas, known as ‘Big Safari’ for an extensive overhaul where they are almost completely disassembled, explained Joe Bucher, an airframe equipment specialist with the Air Force Engineering and Technical Services.

“They call it the dinosaur,” he said. “All you’ll see is the ribs, and the skin will be mostly off.” 

RC-135
A U.S. Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint aircraft from the 763rd Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron flies in support of the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, May 23, 2021. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Taylor Crul

The RC-135s are gutted to make way for updated systems equipped with faster software. The combination of hardware and software installed on the jet is called a baseline. The current baseline 13 is nearly all digital: the cockpits sport glass screens rather than old-fashioned gauges, and the streamlined backend system for intelligence collection has far more computing power than past baselines.

Jeremy Martin, an L3Harris mission systems technician, compared the difference between baseline 13 and 7, which he encountered when he first served as an Airman aboard the Rivet Joint in the early 2000s, to the advance in video game consoles over the same period of time.

“It’s literally going from Coleco or Atari to PS5,” he said. “The capabilities that we had at baseline 7, we couldn’t dream of where we’re at right now.”

Keeping up with the fast pace of change is a necessary part of staying ahead of competitors, Clement said.

“That’s why we do this. We have to be ahead of the innovation that China’s bringing to the table,” he said. “There is no second place here.”

The result is that the year of manufacture painted on each jet’s tail has little relation to the systems on the inside.

“Truly the only thing that’s really old on this plane is the number itself that’s on the tail, maybe the N-1 magnetic compass, and the pencil sharpener. That’s about it,” Martin said. “The rest of this stuff has all been updated, it’s a lot of cutting-edge stuff that’s on this plane.”

Fit to Fly

Even the best technology is useless without an airworthy jet, though, which is where the 55th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron comes in, spending hours fixing the control surfaces, engines, cables, lights, and other mechanical components that make RC-135s fly. Some of the jets used to serve as presidential transport, medical evacuation, or refueling platforms before joining the 55th Wing, giving each small differences and a distinct personality.

“Just last year, our brand-new WC-135s were operational KC-135s,” said Master Sgt. Josef Schueler. “They all have a life.”

Each aircraft has a complex array of subsystems that also require upkeep. For example, the advanced electronics aboard the Rivet Joints generate large amounts of heat, which is why they sport two air conditioning systems and a liquid cooling system.

“That’s a difference when you look at us versus Delta [Air Lines],” said Clement. “All they have is hydraulics, tires, the basics. We have to have all these other systems up and running.”

rc-135
U.S Air Force Airman 1st Class Gregory Tjernlund, left, an aircraft propulsion system technician and Airman 1st Class Raven Quiles, an electrical and environmental technician with 763rd Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Unit, perform routine engine maintenance at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, July 27, 2017. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Amy M. Lovgren)

Rust can ground aircraft as easily as a mechanical failure, which is why Tech Sgt. Justin Boettger, the noncommissioned officer in charge of aircraft structural maintenance, spends much of his time fighting it off.

“The majority of our job here is painting and corrosion control,” he said. “With the age of these aircraft, corrosion issues do happen from time to time, and we make sure that they stop in their tracks.”

Besides rust, Boettger and his team also patch up aircraft after cracks, bird strikes, lightning strikes, or other bangs and scratches. But when a part breaks and the factory that makes it has been closed for decades, the fabrication section of the 55th Maintenance Squadron tries to make it on their own. 

“Just about 10 times out of 10, we can make those parts,” said Tech Sgt. Isaac King, noncommissioned officer in charge of the fabrication section. 

The shop uses various computer-guided machines to cut through steel, including one that shoots a stream of high-pressure water mixed with bits of garnet. When blueprints for the part are unavailable, the Airmen reverse-engineer it.

“Things break and wear over time,” said King. “It’s very unique to say ‘all I need is the raw material, and either a part to take measurements on, or a blueprint to draw it up with,’ and we’ve got the experience to be able to do it.”

80,000 Hours

The 55th Wing has had difficulties with maintenance in the past. A 2018 investigation by the Omaha World-Herald found hundreds of missions aborted or scrubbed due to pervasive mechanical problems. One particularly dangerous WC-135 had the nickname ‘Lucifer’s Chariot,’ though that exact subvariant of WC-135 has since been replaced with jets with larger motors and more available spare parts.

Today, however, the 55th’s RC-135 metrics are impressive: the jets average 1,007 flight hours a month, despite being contracted for 928. The average mission capable rate is 76 percent for fiscal year 2023, which is right on the Air Force standard. In March, one of the Rivet Joints, tail number 4841, even achieved black-letter status, which means an inspection found zero maintenance problems aboard the aging jet. Such an accomplishment is rare in the Air Force: Clement himself has encountered just two in his 29-year career. The metrics are all the more impressive considering the heavy demand on the fleet.

“We’re always all over the world,” Clement said. The jets “could be in the Middle East, they could be in Asia, they could be in Europe, and those are just the main operating locations.”

The entire fleet is due to receive a life-cycle extension to pull its service out to 80,000 flight hours, which should see the aircraft flying into 2050.

“It’s a very small fleet, so every aircraft makes a difference,” Clement said. “That’s why we spend so much investment in each aircraft, because each is a national asset.”

A New Bonus Program Targets Pilots Willing to Re-Up Their Service Commitment Early

A New Bonus Program Targets Pilots Willing to Re-Up Their Service Commitment Early

The Air Force is instituting a new bonus program to entice its pilots to stay in the service by encouraging them to re-up years in advance. 

The Rated Officer Retention Demonstration program, formally unveiled Aug. 15, will offer bonuses of up to $50,000 per year to Airmen whose Active-Duty service commitments from training are due to expire in fiscal 2024 and 2025. 

Rated officers—specifically pilots, an Air Force spokeswoman confirmed—have until Sept. 15 to apply for the bonus program. The amount of the bonus will depend on the length of the contract the Airman signs. 

Starting next year, the service will reserve the biggest bonuses for pilots who sign contracts while still having three years left on their initial commitment. 

The new program will run in parallel to the Air Force’s existing “legacy” Aviation Bonus Program, which is available to pilots, air battle managers, and combat systems officers and also offers up to $50,000 annually. However, pilots will not be able to combine the two bonuses, a spokeswoman said. 

The Rated Officer Retention Demonstration program was implemented in the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, which gave the Secretary of the Air Force leeway to offer the bonus to rated officers “whose continued service on active duty would be in the best interest of the Department of the Air Force” and who have between 1-3 years left on their initial service commitment. 

The law also notes that any contract should add at least four more years to a program participant’s service commitment. 

Finally, the law allows the Secretary of the Air Force to offer a combination of bonuses and base of preference selections as part of the program. The Air Force, however, did not mention any base of preference selection as part of this year’s program. 

The program is authorized to run through 2028. If this initial year is deemed a success, the Air Force “may potentially continue with higher funding allocation requests in future years to expand offerings to a broader rated field and/or for an extended period,” according to a release.

Air Force leaders and members of Congress hope that providing pilots the chance to renew their commitment years in advance will address a common complaint among aviators—a lack of stability for their families.

In the past, Vice Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin noted before Congress in May, bonuses have come too late to change plans that were already years in the making.

“Now, obviously, we’re asking for a longer commitment, but at that time, it’s helping them cement their future, see where their families are and have that predictability,” Allvin said. 

Whether the earlier bonuses will make mid-career pilot retention easier is not yet clear. “We just started this,” Allvin said. But the service is optimistic that offering more stability will improve retention. 

Improving retention will be a key part in addressing the service’s persistent pilot shortage. In written testimony, Allvin noted that the Air Force had a net loss of about 250 pilots in fiscal 2022 and ended the year 1,900 pilots short of its goal of 21,000. For years now, the Air Force has struggled to produce and retain enough pilots to meet its goals, facing stiff competition from private industry. 

Other steps the service is taking include a revamp of how it identifies and trains new pilots. Changes to the pilot candidate scoring mechanism have reduced emphasis on prior flying experience to encourage more diverse applicants. A new curriculum, Undergraduate Pilot Training 2.5, aims to make greater use of simulators and personalized training to help candidates better prepare for actual flying. 

Finally, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. said in June that leaders are reconsidering whether some higher-ranking staff jobs need to be filled by pilots. The USAF has been absorbing the pilot shortage by undermanning those jobs. 

LOOK: How the Nominations Freeze Affects the Highest Levels of USAF, USSF Leadership

LOOK: How the Nominations Freeze Affects the Highest Levels of USAF, USSF Leadership

On Aug. 14, Adm. Michael Gilday relinquished his post as Chief of Naval Operations without a Senate-confirmed successor. The Navy now joins the Army and Marine Corps in lacking a permanent top officer, as Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) continues to protest the Department of Defense’s reproductive health policies with a legislative hold, and lawmakers seemingly refuse to hold roll-call votes on any individual nominees.

There are now 301—and counting—nominations for flag and general officers that are stuck in limbo in the Senate.

The Air Force will likely not go without a permanent leader anytime soon—Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. still has another year left in his term, and while he has been nominated to become the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, that nomination is being held up too.

But the effects of the promotions freeze go beyond Brown, from wing commanders to the Air Force and Space Force’s vice chiefs. More than 100 Air Force and Space Force officers are now stuck in limbo. In some cases, generals who had been planning on retiring are staying on indefinitely. In others, generals are taking on their new jobs in an acting capacity, or without a promotion to a higher grade.

At the highest levels, these charts highlight the different organizations whose leadership has been affected in some form or fashion.

Air Force

Three of the Air Staff’s 16 members are affected by the nomination freeze—nearly a fifth total and a quarter of the uniformed officers. That’s also not counting the Air Force’s director of staff position, where Lt. Gen. Kevin B. Schneider has been nominated to pin on a fourth star and take command of Pacific Air Forces, and Lt. Gen. Scott L. Pleus has been tapped to succeed him.

  • Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. has been nominated to become the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs but not confirmed.
  • Vice Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin has been nominated to replace Brown as Chief of Staff. His successor as Vice Chief has not been announced.
  • Lt. Gen. James C. Dawkins Jr. is set to leave his job as deputy chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration. Maj. Gen. Andrew J. Gebara has been nominated to succeed him and become a lieutenant general but is still waiting.
  • Lt. Gen. S. Clinote Hinote has retired from his job as deputy chief of staff for strategy, integration and requirements, or head of Air Force Futures. Maj. Gen. David Harris has been nominated to succeed him and get a promotion.
  • Maj. Gen. Jeannie M. Leavitt is leaving her job as Chief of Safety, and Brig. Gen. Sean M. Choquette has been nominated to replace her and pin on a second star.

Major Commands

  • Pacific Air Forces is slated to get entirely new leadership: Commander Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach has been nominated to lead Air Combat Command, and Vice Commander Lt. Gen. James A. Jacobson is retiring. Lt. Gen. Kevin B. Schneider and Maj. Gen. Laura L. Lenderman have been nominated for promotions and to serve as commander and vice commander, respectively.
  • Air Combat Command boss Gen. Mark D. Kelly is set to retire and be succeeded by Wilsbach. Vice commander Lt. Gen. Russell L. Mack is also leaving, and Maj. Gen. Michael G. Koscheski has been tapped to get a promotion and take the job.
  • Air Force Global Strike Command vice commander Lt. Gen. Mark E. Weatherington is retiring, and Maj. Gen. Michael J. Lutton has been nominated to succeed him and get a promotion.
  • Air Force Materiel Command vice commander Lt. Gen. Carl E. Schaefer is retiring, and Brig. Gen. Linda S. Hurry has been nominated as his successor and for a promotion.
  • Air Force Special Operations Command vice commander Brig. Gen. Rebecca J. Sonkiss has been nominated for a promotion.

Numbered Air Forces

  • 7th Air Force commander Lt. Gen. Scott L. Pleus has been nominated to go to the Pentagon and become Air Force Director of Staff. Maj. Gen. David R. Iverson has been tapped to succeed him and pin on a third star.
  • 20th Air Force commander Maj. Gen Michael J. Lutton has been nominated to become vice commander of AFGSC. When he moves, Brig. Gen. Stacy J. Huser has been nominated to succeed him and get a promotion.
  • 12th Air Force (Air Forces Southern) vice commander Col. John B. Creel has been nominated for promotion to brigadier general.
  • 4th Air Force commander Brig. Gen. Derin S. Durham has been nominated for promotion to major general.
  • 9th Air Force (Air Forces Central) vice commander Brig. Gen. David A. Mineau has been nominated for promotion to major general.

Space Force

The Space Force is smaller and has far fewer officers caught up in the nominations hold, but all three of its field commands are affected, as is the service’s No. 2 office and one of its key Space Staff positions.

  • Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. David D. Thompson is set to retire, and Space Systems Command commander Lt. Gen. Michael A. Guetlein has been nominated to succeed him and get a fourth star.
  • Deputy chief of space operations for operations, strategy, plans, programs, and requirements Lt. Gen. Philip A. Garrant has been nominated to be commander of Space Systems Command, and Air Force Maj. Gen. Shawn W. Bratton, who had been head of Space Training and Readiness Command, has been nominated twice to transfer into the Space Force at the rank of lieutenant general.
  • Space Operations Command commander Gen. Stephen N. Whiting has been nominated to be commander of U.S. Space Command. His successor has not been announced.
  • Space Systems Command commander Lt. Gen. Michael A. Guetlein has been nominated to become Vice Chief of Space Operations. Lt. Gen. Philip A. Garrant, currently deputy chief of space operations for strategy, plans, programs, and requirements, has been nominated as his successor.
  • Space Training and Readiness Command commander Maj. Gen. Shawn W. Bratton has been nominated to be deputy chief of space operations for strategy, plans, programs, and requirements. Brig. Gen. Timothy A. Sejba has succeeded him as a commander but is still awaiting promotion to Maj. Gen.

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified nominations for Air Force Special Operations Command and the 16th Air Force. AFSOC vice commander Brig. Gen. Rebecca J. Sonkiss has been nominated for a promotion to major general, and 16th Air Force Maj. Gen. Thomas K. Hensley is not retiring.

Career Airmen Can Retrain More Easily Under New Air Force Rules

Career Airmen Can Retrain More Easily Under New Air Force Rules

The Air Force is making it easier for career enlisted Airmen to retrain into a different specialty, following similar changes made earlier this year for first-term service members. 

The Noncommissioned Officer Retraining Program (NCORP), for Airmen on their second or any subsequent term of enlistment, opened Aug. 1 with Phase I, during which service members from overstaffed career fields can volunteer to retrain into undermanned specialties. 

In previous years, the application window for Airmen looking to volunteer for retraining was around a month. This year, the Air Force announced, it will be nine months, stretching until the end of April 2024. 

If there aren’t enough applicants after Phase I, the program moves to Phase II—during which the Air Force picks Airmen to retrain. In a release, the service said it will notify Airmen eligible to be involuntarily retrained starting in early February 2024 and encourage them to apply for a new Air Force Speciality Code (AFSC). Phase II won’t officially start, however, until May 1. 

The Air Force is adjusting Phase II this year, to allow career Airmen to retrain into any specialty below 90 percent manning instead of separating. 

That change is in line with moves the Air Force made in May to let Airmen in their first term of enlistment retrain into any AFSC below 90 percent, even if their current field is below 90 percent. 

“We are continuing to advance our talent management programs, allowing more flexibility and opportunities to keep Airmen in our ranks,” deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel and services Lt. Gen. Caroline Miller said in a statement. “This is key to keeping great talent we need and for the future force against potential challenges.” 

Balancing force structure and filling out the ranks have been high priorities for the Air Force recently.  

On one hand, leaders say recruiting numbers continue to decline and the service is likely to miss its fiscal 2023 goals by thousands of Airmen. Officials say some of the challenges include a low unemployment rate and a declining propensity to serve, along with increased concerns about political polarization. 

On the other, retention has ticked down slightly after reaching record highs amid the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic but still generally remains strong. The number of career fields eligible for retention bonuses—which can rise when the Air Force needs to entice more Airmen to stay—dipped in 2023 after bumping up the year prior. 

At the same time, the service is promoting NCOs at its lowest rate in decades, driven in part by a belief that too many Airmen were promoted in the past with insufficient experience to be effective senior noncommissioned officers, and that a course correction is needed. Last week, the Air Force announced 17.4 percent of eligible senior airmen were promoted to staff sergeant, the lowest mark in 27 years. 

Russian Warplanes Fly Near Alaska and NATO in Separate Incidents on Same Day

Russian Warplanes Fly Near Alaska and NATO in Separate Incidents on Same Day

Four Russian military aircraft operated near Alaska, according to North American Aerospace Defense Command, roughly two weeks after a flotilla of Russian and Chinese warships conducting joint exercises near the Aleutian Islands were shadowed by the Navy.

On the same day, thousands of miles away, Russian bombers also got near NATO airspace in Europe, prompting multiple countries to respond.

The incident near Alaska occurred late Aug. 13 and into the early morning hours of Aug. 14, according to a release from NORAD.

The command said it “detected and tracked” the Russian aircraft, but did not say whether American or Canadian aircraft were scrambled in response, as they sometimes have in the past. NORAD also did not identify what type of Russian aircraft were operating. The command did not immediately respond to queries.

NORAD did clarify that the Russian aircraft operated in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), which is international airspace that serves as a buffer for early-warning defense of North America. Russia regularly conducts flights in that area, with the last announced incident occurring July 3, also involving four Russian aircraft.

“These types of flights are not that uncommon,” Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder told reporters Aug. 14.

“The Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace,” the NORAD release stated. “This Russian activity in the Alaska ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat.”

Elsewhere on Aug. 14, multiple NATO countries scrambled fighters in response to Russian bomber flights near their countries.

Two Royal Air Force Typhoons on quick reaction alert from RAF Lossiemouth intercepted what it identified as Tu-142 Bear-F and Tu-142 Bear-J maritime patrol aircraft, which are used for “reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare,” according to the RAF. The Russian bombers were flying north of the Shetland Islands, a Scottish archipelago that is the northern-most part of the U.K. The British also scrambled a Voyager refueling aircraft. 

Like NORAD, the RAF also noted such incidents are not rare but said the Russian planes “can pose a hazard to other aircraft.”

“These Russian aircraft often do not talk to air traffic control or ‘squawk’, broadcasting a code ensuring they are visible to other air users and air traffic controllers on the ground,” an RAF release added.

The British pilots were “ready to counter any potential threat to U.K. territory” and “take action at a moment’s notice to keep our country safe,” U.K. Minister for the Armed Forces James Heappey said in a statement.

The incident was within NATO’s air policing zone, but in international airspace. The Danish Air Force aircraft also intercepted two Russian Bears in the morning of Aug. 14 in what appeared to involve the same Russian aircraft, according to the Netherlands. Two Dutch F-16s from Volkel Air Base were scrambled as the aircraft “flew towards Dutch airspace,” but the Russian aircraft changed course.

“This does not happen often, but today’s incident does demonstrate the importance of rapid employability,” the Dutch Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

The incidents come in the midst of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and on the heels of 11 Russian and Chinese warships conducting drills near the Aleutian Islands, which were monitored four U.S. destroyers—the USS John S. McCain, the USS Benfold, the USS John Finn, and the USS Chung-Hoon— and P-8 Poseidon aircraft. However, Ryder said the latest Russian flights near Alaska did not appear to be linked to that incident.

“No indication that I’m aware of that’s it’s linked to any exercise activity,” Ryder said of the flights, but added the U.S. had a policy to “make people aware.”

B-2s Land in Iceland for First Bomber Task Force in Months

B-2s Land in Iceland for First Bomber Task Force in Months

Three B-2 bombers from the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., landed in Keflavik, Iceland, on Aug. 13 to begin a Bomber Task Force deployment, the service announced. The deployment marks the first overseas appearance of the stealth bomber since the B-2 fleet’s six-month safety pause ended this May.

The planned duration of the deployment was not disclosed, but BTFs typically last 2-6 weeks. More than 150 support Airmen and aircrew deployed alongside the bombers and will exercise with NATO and U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) units in the region.

The B-2 is the Air Force’s sole operational stealth bomber, with a globe-girdling range, and the ongoing Bomber Task Force rotations in Europe are seen as one element of NATO’s heightened level of alert since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

The Spirit’s return to Europe comes after it spent the first part of 2023 on the ground—the fleet stopped flying after one aircraft was damaged following an emergency landing at Whiteman, but the Air Force has not given the root cause of that accident nor explained why the “safety pause” in operations was necessary.

This is not the first B-2 deployment to Keflavik. Three B-2s, with more than 200 support personnel, operated from the Icelandic base in September 2021 for nearly three weeks. At the time, Air Force officials said establishing Keflavik as a location from which B-2s could operate added “another strategic stepping stone” for U.S. bombers to the European theater. During that deployment, the bombers practiced suppression of enemy air defenses and the employment of standoff missiles along with aircraft from other NATO countries.

The most recent Bomber Task Force rotation to Europe was a contingent of B-1B bombers from the 7th Bomb Wing of Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, which operated from RAF Fairford, U.K., from late May until late June. During the monthlong visit, the B-1s participated in four U.S. and international exercises, including two Arctic drills; made an appearance at the Paris Air Show; and landed in Sweden, which is in the process of joining NATO, for the first time.

Global Strike Command also continues to conduct BTFs in the Pacific, having deployed B-52 contingents to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, in June and July and a package of B-1s to Misawa Air Base, Japan, in July.

The reduced number of Airmen and support personnel accompanying the B-2s to Iceland during this deployment may be a demonstration of the Air Force’s ongoing effort to reduce its footprint when positioning forces away from home base. Under the Agile Combat Employment model, USAF is striving to make deployments with as few personnel as possible, often to austere or remote airfields, to practice moving quickly and complicating an adversary’s targeting.

Imagery of the B-2s arriving at Keflavik, released by the Pentagon, also showed two C-5Ms of the 433rd Air Wing, which presumably brought their support gear and personnel.

“Each bomber task force mission underscores the prowess of our armed forces in navigating today’s intricate and unpredictable global security terrain, with a focus on fostering stability, security, and freedom across Europe,” said Gen. James Hecker, commander of USAFE.

The Iceland BTF is led by Lt. Col. Andrew Kousgaard, commander of 393rd Bomb Squadron. He said BTFs demonstrate the Air Force’s strategy of strategic unpredictability with operational adaptability.

“The B-2 bomber is arguably the most strategically significant airplane in the world, but that doesn’t mean it’s inflexible; dynamically deploying the bombers forward is a unique and important capability,” Kousgaard said.

He added that there is “simply no substitute for the hands-on integration” with U.S. allies and partners in the region. The deployments help familiarize USAF, Joint and allied forces in the region with the capabilities of U.S. bombers, he said.

It was not disclosed whether the B-2s will operate from any forward areas in Europe, but BTFs often include unannounced secondary deployments.

Iceland is a member of NATO but has no military forces and has over the past six decades allowed NATO units to operate from its airfields. The U.S. Air Force maintained an interceptor capability at Keflvik until the early 2000s. Subsequently the base has been reactivated for exercises and NATO air policing missions. B-2s had transited through Keflavik before but never used it as an operating location until 2021.

Tyndall Air Force Base Will Be An F-35 Maintainer’s Dream … Eventually

Tyndall Air Force Base Will Be An F-35 Maintainer’s Dream … Eventually

TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla.—Three new hangars under construction at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. could make maintaining the F-35 more efficient than ever, with built-in maintenance facilities, a walkable campus, enhanced wireless connectivity, and other amenities.

“This is a dream for any maintainer,” said Col. Robert Kongaika, commander of the 325th Maintenance Group that will oversee upkeep for the 78 F-35s to be assigned to Tyndall’s 325th Fighter Wing.

The base as a whole is undergoing a $5 billion reconstruction effort after the devastation of Hurricane Michael in 2018. Officials want to make Tyndall the Air Force’s ‘Installation of the Future,’ the model of what the service could look like in years to come—complete with facilities that can withstand the most extreme weather and new technologies to make maintenance and base security faster and better.

But the biggest single investment is going toward Tyndall’s transition from training F-22 students to flying operational F-35s. The three hangars being built, one for each future squadron, are part of what leaders are calling ‘Zone One,’ an area devoted to flightline activities.

The zone includes a maintenance complex, group headquarters, aircraft parking aprons, aircraft support equipment storage, a corrosion control facility, and an F-35A flight simulator building. It is the single largest military construction contract on record in the Air Force database, which dates back to 2008, according to an Air Force release. The construction contract is $532 million, but contingencies and contract oversight brings the total investment to $604 million.

tyndall
A scale model of the F-35A hangars under construction at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. The roof was removed to show the doors at either end of the hangar, allowing aircraft to move in and out more easily. Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza

Next Generation Hangars

Officials say that top-dollar price will bring top-of-the-line quality; each hangar will serve as home for both maintainers and pilots for each of the three F-35 squadrons, which should allow for easy cross-pollination, Kongaika said. Hangar doors at either end of the facilities will let jets flow in and out more easily, he said.

Maintenance demands ample electricity to power the aircraft; air for inflating tires or environmental control systems; and water for spraying down the jets. In older hangars, maintainers would bring in noisy aerospace ground equipment that guzzled fuel and generated exhaust, but at Tyndall those utilities will come straight out of the building itself. Kongaika worked with a similar set-up at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., another F-35 location, where utilities rose up from the hangar floor on hydraulics.

“That’s state-of-the-art, in my opinion, because you’re reducing your thrash: the wasted time it takes to bring in other equipment and take it out,” he said.

Air conditioning and high-speed wireless internet will be built-in rather than bolted on, as is the case in some other facilities. Reliable Wi-Fi is increasingly important to connect tablets and other devices maintainers rely on to fix F-35s. Kongaika envisioned future wrench-turners using augmented reality-equipped headsets or glasses to further streamline the maintenance process.  

tyndall
Col. Robert Kongaika, head of the 325th Maintenance Group at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., displays a mock-up of Zone 1, where the 325th Fighter Wing’s hangars, headquarters, flight simulators, and other facilities will be built. The three identical buildings near the top represent a hangar for each of the wing’s F-35 squadrons. Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza

Current Challenges

While Kongaika and other Air Force leaders envision a high-tech future for maintainers, there is an obvious challenge—the hangars will not be completed until 2026, but F-35s with the 95th Fighter Squadron have already begun arriving. The first four landed at Tyndall in early August, with 12 more scheduled by the end of summer 2024. For now, maintainers with the 95th Fighter Generation Squadron work out of a refurbished office space, but the jets remain outside without the benefit of sunshades.

“We’ve got ice machines, we’ve got Gatorade to try and make that as tolerable as possible, but they will be straight up on the open ramp in the Florida sun,” said Maj. Benjamin Flores, commander of the 95th FGS. “That will be something we’ll have to keep a focus on and try to make it as easy as possible for them.”

Another challenge is the scale of the rebuilding effort, where up to 4,000 construction workers rub elbows with operational Airmen. The tight quarters require careful coordination between the 325th Fighter Wing, the Air Force’s Natural Disaster Recovery Division, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the contractors the corps manages. 

“We spend a lot of time trying to look forward to identify where those conflicts could occur and mitigate them before they become an issue,” said Col. Robert Bartlow Jr., chief of the Air Force Civil Engineer Center Natural Disaster Recovery Division. “But things happen all the time where we realize we’ve got a problem and we need to address it.”

For example, one of the tenant units at Tyndall is the 601st Air and Space Operations Center, which plans, directs, and assesses air and space operations over North America, a vital mission that cannot be interrupted. But over the next few months, Tyndall is renovating all the utilities across the base, which will require shutting down the roads leading to the 601st Air Operations Center (AOC).

“Right now we’re figuring out alternate means of access to the AOC and we’ll come up with one, get it approved and we’ll press forward,” Bartlow said. “That’s one thing that fortunately we identified well enough in advance.”

tyndall
Construction workers construct concrete forms on Zone 1 at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, June 9, 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Zachary Nordheim)

Kongaika expressed concern for his Airmen’s safety amid the congestion and construction. 

“We have to have a really heightened sense of situational awareness around us, so I’m always preaching safety,” he said. “I want to empower our Airmen to knock it off or slow it down whenever they see things that are the three Ds: dumb, dangerous, or different.”

Maintainers with the 95th FGS are adapting to the circumstances. Their main depot for tools and spare parts is about a mile away and across a security checkpoint from their temporary facility, which can disrupt workflow, so they set up a smaller warehouse in a side room of their current building, reducing the number of back-and-forth trips.

Sustaining a fighter squadron requires thousands of spare parts and equipment such as rolling tool boxes, torque wrenches, screw drivers, pliers, engine covers, safety gear, latex gloves, and more. Col. George Watkins, the commander of the 325th Fighter Wing, likened it to “standing up a super-sized AutoZone.”

But a successful fighter generation squadron also requires the right culture to sustain mission-ready aircraft every day, even in difficult weather. While finding experienced F-35 maintainers is not as difficult today as it was a few years ago when the jet was brand-new, it will take time for the 95th FGS to learn how to work as a team.

“We have not worked as a team to generate aircraft; we’ve all done it individually at different places,” Flores said. “We have to make sure we have the communication in place and the expectations set so we make the right call and follow the right processes. We’ll learn but I think that’s just part of the growing process for a new team.”

Kongaika pointed to the arrival of the first F-35s as crucial to building that teamwork.

“There’s nothing that replaces hands-on training, so we need some aircraft in order to train,” he said.

Barring further production delays, the 95th Fighter Squadron should reach full operational capability with 24 primary assigned aircraft and two more in reserve by the middle of 2025. The number of 95th FGS maintainers will also grow from about 50 people on the ground today to an end-strength of 200. Becoming operational will take sweat and coordination, but the new aircraft, the new hangars, and the chance to build a new unit from the ground up has its rewards too.

“Seeing our own aircraft in front of the squadron with the Tyndall tail flash on it … it’s just a good feeling, and I think that’s what everyone is excited about,” said Flores.

Ramstein C-130s Get Invasion Stripes For D-Day Commemoration Next Year

Ramstein C-130s Get Invasion Stripes For D-Day Commemoration Next Year

Six C-130J aircraft at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, received a special paint job and decals recently to show off over the beaches of Normandy, France, on the 80th anniversary of D-Day next June. 

Maintainers painted black-and-white stripes on the 37th Airlift Squadron’s C-130s to mimic the “invasion” or “liberation” stripes sported by Allied aircraft during World War II to distinguish them from enemy aircraft and reduce the chance of friendly fire. 

The Airmen from the 86th Maintenance Squadron also gave a nod to the 37th’s lineage by painting a W-7 insignia on the invasion stripes—a Douglas C-47 Skytrain aircraft named Whiskey Seven belonging to the 37th Troop Carrier Squadron was the first to cross enemy lines to drop paratroopers. 

Units across the Air Force have painted invasion stripes on their aircraft over the years to celebrate the service’s World War II roots. This year alone, F-15E fighters from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., and a C-17 Globemaster III from Pittsburgh International Airport Air Reserve Station, Penn., have sported the stripes. 

But only the Ramstein C-130s, however, are scheduled to participate in the D-Day 80th anniversary celebrations on June 6, 2024.

“We get the sole honor in the Air Force of applying liberation stripes to our aircraft in celebration of 80 years of NATO air superiority in Europe,” Tech. Sgt. Garrett Magnie, 86th Maintenance Squadron aircraft structural maintenance noncommissioned officer in charge, said in a statement. “The 37th Troop Carrier Squadron, now known as the 37th Airlift Squadron, flew Whiskey Seven over enemy airspace. Historically the 37th can lay claim to be a part of the Normandy liberation.”  

The 37th also supported the 75th anniversary of D-Day five years ago, with a C-130 sporting invasion stripes that dropped paratroopers in France and flew alongside a heritage C-47. 

Preparations for the 80th anniversary are underway, but details have yet to be announced. 

Air Guard, Reserve Tackle Wildfires Across U.S. West

Air Guard, Reserve Tackle Wildfires Across U.S. West

Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve personnel were activated across the Western United States this week to help fight wildfires raging from Hawaii to Oregon to Alaska

The Pentagon announced Aug. 10 that around three dozen members of the Hawaii Air National Guard were activated to respond to the wildfires on the island of Maui, which have killed more than 50 people. That’s in addition to around 100 Army National Guard members and multiple helicopters from the Army and Navy. 

Also on Aug. 10, Hawaii Air Guardsmen transported vehicles and personnel from the Honolulu Fire Department, along with disaster relief supplies, to Maui on a C-17 Globemaster III. 

In Alaska, five firefighters from the Air National Guard’s 176th Civil Engineer Squadron deployed to Clear Space Force Station on Aug. 6 with a firetruck to support firefighting efforts in the area. There are several wildfires in the region covering thousands of acres.

And on the West Coast, two C-130s equipped with the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) arrived at Klamath Falls Airtanker Base, Ore., this week—one each from the Wyoming Air National Guard’s 153rd Airlift Wing and the Air Force Reserve’s 302nd Airlift Wing in Colorado Springs, Colo. 

MAFFS is a roll-on, roll-off system with a 3,000-gallon tank that can shoot water or fire retardant out the plane’s rear parachute door, emptying the tank in as little as six seconds. C-130s equipped with the system have become a regular fire-fighting fixture in the West in recent years, helping to battle large wildfires in California, Oregon, Colorado, and more. 

“The MAFFS aircraft play a pivotal role in combating wildfires, and their swift deployment to affected areas allows us to respond rapidly to emerging fire incidents,” said Col. Barry Deibert, commander of the 153rd Airlift Wing, in a release. “Our primary goal is to enhance aircraft operations, ensuring the protection of lives and property, and providing unwavering support to the multi-agency firefighting response effort.” 

The National Interagency Fire Center requests the Air Force’s help with firefighting missions, and the U.S. Forest Service provides the MAFFS system and fire retardant. This marks the first deployment of the C-130-equipped MAFFS this wildfire season—later than previous years

There are currently four wildfires raging in Oregon’s Willamette National Forest, covering hundreds of acres.