Hickam could get C-17 aircraft
| • | Hawai'i picked for Army's new rapid-strike strategy |
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Affairs Writer
A $1.1 million study is under way to base C-17 cargo aircraft at Hickam Air Force Base in support of a fast-deploying Army brigade coming to Hawai'i.
Obtaining the latest-generation cargo jets as a unit of the Hawai'i Air National Guard would mean new hangars and possibly new housing at Hickam.
Sen. Dan Inouye, who supports the C-17 plan, said the aircraft and "interim brigade" concepts are inextricably linked.
C-17s will be used to transport armored vehicles used by the brigades.
"If you didn't have (C-17s), you wouldn't have the interim brigade, and if you didn't have the interim brigade, the real use of 17s would not be apparent," Inouye said.
The Air Force has 74 C-17s, and plans for 120 more. A senior aide to Inouye said the Mississippi Air National Guard and special operations forces are next in line for the planes.
Recent defense budgets have included money "to study the basing plan (for Hawai'i) and to provide some beginning seed money to prepare the way for the eventual basing of the aircraft in Hawai'i. That is a few years off," the aide said.
Contractor J.M. Waller Associates Inc. is three months into the 15-month Hickam study to determine hangar, housing and other logistical needs to base the C-17 Globemaster IIIs there.
"You don't have existing facilities for C-17s, so there would be a need for additional hangars. What that would mean, how many, there's no way I could answer at this time," Guard spokesman Maj. Chuck Anthony said.
Air Force Gen. Charles T. Robertson recently predicted the Pentagon would seek from Boeing a multi-year contract for more of the C-17s, each of which can carry four of the "Interim Armored Vehicles" around which the Army is building its rapid-deployment force.
Robertson said an Asia and Pacific emphasis would require at least 50 more of the aircraft, which cost between $150 and $240 million each.
Air Force C-17s now pass through Hickam on fueling and supply stops between Mainland and Asian bases, but none of the aircraft is stationed here.
The 154th Wing of the Air National Guard at Hickam consists of 18 F-15 fighters, nine KC-135 Stratotankers and five C-130 cargo planes.
