The 28th and final factory-fresh Lockheed Martin C-130J transport destined for beddown with the 317th Airlift Group at Dyess AFB, Tex., touched down at the Texas base on Thursday, announced the company. Gen. Paul Selva, Air Mobility Command chief, flew the aircraft to Dyess from the company’s production facility in Marietta, Ga., states Lockheed Martin’s July 25 release. With the arrival of aircraft number 5726, the 317th AG is now the largest C-130J operator in the world, states the release. (See also Abilene Reporter-News report and One Shy of a Full House.)
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…