ST. LOUIS, 8 May 2013.Boeing (NYSE:BA) has delivered a training center for the C-17 Globemaster III airlifter to the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, to aid in training pilots and loadmasters onsite, faster, and at a reduced cost.
The delivery is part of an initial $44 million contract Boeing won in Dec. 2010 to deliver C-17 Weapon System Trainers (WSTs) to Wright-Patterson, McChord Air Force Base, Wash., and Stewart Air National Guard, N.Y. In Dec. 2011, the Air Force exercised a $29 million option for additional C-17 WST deliveries for Air National Guard bases in Memphis, Tenn., and Martinsburg, W.V., scheduled for completion in 2014.
The Wright-Patterson facility includes a new, networked C-17 WST, a training management system, computer-based training devices, a core integrated processor task trainer, and portable flight-planning devices. The new WST can be networked with other U.S. Air Force WST devices around the world for cross-team mission training.
“Since we received our first C-17 at Wright-Patt in January 2011, our local crews have had to go on temporary duty at other bases around the country to keep up their flying certifications,” explains Michael Galle, U.S. Air Force C-17 program manager for training systems at the base. “Now that we have our own training center, we can increase training efficiency and reduce travel time and costs.”
Wright-Patterson is home base for nine C-17s, and the Air Force contracting office for the Boeing C-17 training program has been stationed at the base since the program’s inception in 1989.
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