Strategic thinking

Volume 48, No. 17, Sepetember 21, 2006
By Michael Brooke

HEAVY LIFT: A USAF Globemaster III takes off from California’s Long Beach Airport just after being rolled out of Boeing’s C-17 plant. Photo by SGT Michelle Lucraft

THE new strategic mobility about to be delivered to Air Lift Group (ALG) will not only transform the Air Force’s lift capability, but challenge Air Force personnel to re-think the way they conduct operations.

ACAUST AVM John Quaife said the challenge facing Air Force, and particularly ALG, is the transformation being driven by its introduction of far more capable and strategic mobility platforms.

“Air Lift Group is about to take a quantum leap from tactical to strategic lift capability,” he said.

AVM Quaife said ALG’s capability transformation is being driven by the impending acquisition of the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III and the KC-30B (formerly known as the Multi Role Tanker Transport - MRTT) aircraft.

“The big challenge for Air Force is to change our way of thinking to facilitate this transformation of Air Lift Group from a group dominated by the tactical capability of C-130 aircraft to one incorporating a significant responsive global airlift capacity,” he said.

For the transformation to be successful, ALG must adapt not only to the global reach capabilities of the new platforms, but to the way the group needs to be configured to exploit them. “Understanding our new capabilities will allow us to recast what and how we do business,” he said.

34SQN’s operation of the BBJ737 with its capability to fly long distances quickly (6000nm at M0.78) is a prime example of how new platforms can provide unforseen challenges for Air Force.

“The capability of the BBJ737 revealed a limitation in the number of air crew which had to be addressed through additional establishment. We had to adapt 34SQN to match the capability of the airframe,” he said.

AVM Quaife expects the introduction of the C-17 and KC-30B to reveal similar challenges.

“The capability of these modern aircraft can be restricted if we do not provide the correct crewing ratios to support the forecasted rate of effort. We intend to increase the crewing ratio per aircraft for the C-17 compared to the present C-130 workforce to ensure that we realise the full capability of the C-17.

“There is a great deal of challenge that the Air Force is yet to uncover, let alone explore, in introducing these new platforms,” he said.

“We already know the impact these aircraft will have on our air movements personnel and air load teams, and this is a critical driver for the current rebalancing efforts within Air Force.”

36SQN will introduce the C-17 into service through a Transition Training Test and Evaluation Plan until the Initial Operating Capability is declared in the second half of 2007.

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