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A view from the inside of the C27J. The Air Force has announced plans to cancel the aircraft as part of broader budget cutbacks. That would leave the Maryland Air Guard without airlift capability. It also would leave the 250 pilots, loadmasters, maintenance workers and other personnel of the 135th Airlift Group without an assignment. (Lloyd Fox, Baltimore Sun / February 15, 2012) |
The Maryland Air Guard continues to fly the A10C II Thunderbolt, a jet used to attack tanks, armored vehicles and other ground targets that Marylanders have flown in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the future of that plane, which was developed in the 1970s, might also be limited; the Air Force is cutting five A10 squadrons around the country.
Maryland Col. Scott L. Kelly does not expect the state to get unmanned aircraft, given FAA rules and the busy airspace in the National Capital Region.
Kelly is the commander of the 175th Air Wing, which also includes the A10C group. He sees the loss of the C27J and the addition of intelligence and cyberwarfare personnel reflecting a larger shift in the Air Force.
"I can't predict what's going to transpire budget-wise in aircraft building," he said, "but we may have perhaps seen our last manned fighter already built" — the state-of-the-art Joint Strike Fighter.
"I'm telling our troops that I see the [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance group] and network warfare expansion as, at least in my eyes, something that's going to keep this wing and this air guard viable for many years in the future," Kelly said.
For now, Kelly said, his greatest concern is "the people side of the equation" — the 250 members of the 135th Airlift Group and the personnel who support them. "They all have faces and lives and families."
Kelly said some of the guard members have computer and other skills from their civilian lives that could help them adapt to new opportunities with the ISR group or the network warfare squadron.
Others, including pilots who want to continue to fly, could seek opportunities elsewhere in the guard, in Maryland or beyond.
Lt. Col. David DeBorger, a pilot and instructor, sees a potential new role for himself in the new intelligence and cyberwarfare missions.
"I always thought I'd be flying airplanes, but at my point in my career, I had to figure out what I'm going to do next," he said. "So for an old guy like me" — he's 45 — "this may be a great opportunity to transition to another career that's going to be easier for me to have a follow-on after I get out of the Air National Guard."
Lt. Col. Julie Curlin, a pilot who commutes from Tampa, Fla., to command the 135th Maintenance Squadron of the 135th Airlift Group, held out hope the decision wasn't final.
One of the last of the Maryland pilots to train on the C27J, she was getting checked out on the new aircraft at Warfield last week.
"We're still fighting to keep them, so that's obviously what we're looking forward to, is this aircraft staying here in some kind of role," she said. "We would be really sad to see this go."
matthew.brown@baltsun.com
twitter.com/matthewhaybrown
Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts
Maryland Col. Scott L. Kelly does not expect the state to get unmanned aircraft, given FAA rules and the busy airspace in the National Capital Region.
Kelly is the commander of the 175th Air Wing, which also includes the A10C group. He sees the loss of the C27J and the addition of intelligence and cyberwarfare personnel reflecting a larger shift in the Air Force.
"I can't predict what's going to transpire budget-wise in aircraft building," he said, "but we may have perhaps seen our last manned fighter already built" — the state-of-the-art Joint Strike Fighter.
"I'm telling our troops that I see the [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance group] and network warfare expansion as, at least in my eyes, something that's going to keep this wing and this air guard viable for many years in the future," Kelly said.
For now, Kelly said, his greatest concern is "the people side of the equation" — the 250 members of the 135th Airlift Group and the personnel who support them. "They all have faces and lives and families."
Kelly said some of the guard members have computer and other skills from their civilian lives that could help them adapt to new opportunities with the ISR group or the network warfare squadron.
Others, including pilots who want to continue to fly, could seek opportunities elsewhere in the guard, in Maryland or beyond.
Lt. Col. David DeBorger, a pilot and instructor, sees a potential new role for himself in the new intelligence and cyberwarfare missions.
"I always thought I'd be flying airplanes, but at my point in my career, I had to figure out what I'm going to do next," he said. "So for an old guy like me" — he's 45 — "this may be a great opportunity to transition to another career that's going to be easier for me to have a follow-on after I get out of the Air National Guard."
Lt. Col. Julie Curlin, a pilot who commutes from Tampa, Fla., to command the 135th Maintenance Squadron of the 135th Airlift Group, held out hope the decision wasn't final.
One of the last of the Maryland pilots to train on the C27J, she was getting checked out on the new aircraft at Warfield last week.
"We're still fighting to keep them, so that's obviously what we're looking forward to, is this aircraft staying here in some kind of role," she said. "We would be really sad to see this go."
matthew.brown@baltsun.com
twitter.com/matthewhaybrown
Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts
