Ramstein muss 3 C-21A abgeben
Nach der Überführung der "7887" C-130E zurück nach CONUS steht dies nun auch 3 C-21A in Ramstein bevor. Und wieder gings für eine Ramsteiner Maschine ins AMARC.
Zitat:
Air Force cutbacks will reduce Ramstein's C-21 transport fleet
By Scott Schonauer, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Ben Bloker / S&S
Capt. Matt Dudderar, a pilot assigned to the 76th Airlift Squadron, looks
out from the cockpit of a C-21 that is on its way to Arizona.
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany - Air Force squadrons at bases worldwide -
including Ramstein Air Base - have begun retiring more than half of their C-21
fleet as part of a servicewide effort to cut personnel and save money.
The Air Force announced last month that it will transfer 38 aircraft,
sending 16 from active-duty units to the Air National Guard in Fargo, N.D.,
and Bradley, Conn. The rest of the jets will be sent to the Aerospace
Maintenance and Regeneration Center at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz.,
and the Air Force Flight Standards Agency at Will Rogers Air Guard Station in
Oklahoma City, Okla.
The C-21 is the military's version of the Lear 35A business jet and is used
mostly to transport senior-level officials, cargo and ambulatory patients.
The twin turbofan engine aircraft, which first arrived in the Air Force in
1984, carries seven passengers.
The Air Force's active-duty fleet had 74 C-21As, according to the service's
Web site. Each cost more than $3 million in 1996.
Ramstein's 76th Airlift Squadron will lose three of its 13 C-21s, commander
Lt. Col. Dan Baldessari said. He flew the first C-21 from the squadron's
fleet on Monday afternoon to Davis-Monthan. The others will leave Ramstein
later this month.
"We are fortunate to be losing only three," Baldessari said. "There are
units in the States who have lost half or more of their C-21s - or are going
to - based on these budget decisions."
The secretary of the Air Force approved the retirement of the planes as part
of the service's plans to slash 40,000 positions from its ranks to buy new
planes and modernize the force.
Trimming the C-21As from the active-duty inventory will affect 91 positions
at Ramstein; Keesler Air Force Base, Miss.; Wright- Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio; Scott Air Force Base, Ill.; Andrews Air Force Base, Md.;
Peterson Air Force Base, Colo.; and Yokota Air Base, Japan.
The 76th will lose 17 of its 40 pilot positions through attrition,
Baldessari said. But the unit does not expect to see a drop in the number of
passengers.
The squadron ferries senior officers around the U.S. European Command's
area of operations - which includes Europe and most of Africa.
Last year, the Ramstein unit was busy, flying nearly 3,000 missions. That's
1,000 more than the previous year, Baldessari said. The unit flew more than
120 aeromedical evacuations.
The loss of the aircraft will not affect the ambulatory missions, Baldessari
said. Crews will continue to be on alert around the clock to transport
patients who need urgent care. However, the unit plans to combine missions
for senior officers, Baldessari said. When possible, passengers would have
to take flights together.
Baldessari said he doesn't expect to fly as many as missions in 2007.
"But it's not out of the realm of possibility depending on how heavy the
tasking is consistently," he said.
"... (We) know we're going to accomplish the vast majority of the missions
even though we lost three airplanes," he added