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Altus relocates aircrew training temporarily

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Clinton Atkins
  • 97th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Air Force officials at Altus AFB, Okla., ordered three KC-135 Stratotankers and three C-17 Globemaster IIIs along with 67 aircrew and maintenance personnel to Lackland Air Force Base's Kelly Field in San Antonio Texas to resume limited aircrew training operations.

Aircrew training at Altus AFB came to a halt when a severe ice storm swept through the Oklahoma area knocking out power to the base Jan. 28. The aircraft and personnel will return to the base today.

"This ice storm has had a major impact on our training operation," said Col. Ty Thomas, 97th Air Mobility Wing commander. "Our first challenge was to get power back to our housing areas and ensure our families were stable, then we had to get started on a return to training."

There are four aircrews for each airframe, which will permit four sorties on each of the three flying days at Kelly Field. Flying 24 sorties total, will allow the wing to make up almost a day's lost training.

"We sent our students who are the closest to finishing their training so they can get back to their units," said Lt. Col. Shawn Teagan, 97th Operations Group deputy commander.

According to Colonel Teagan, losing a week of flying at Altus AFB, one of the Air Force's premiere aircrew training locations, will have a ripple effect through the Air Force.

"The impact to the mobility forces is huge," he said. "Every day we don't fly negatively impacts the C-17 and KC-135 crew force and even our allies, who have sent students here for training.

"It will take us months to regain the training days we lost," said Colonel Teagan. "We will increase flying ops to six days a week and work closely with maintenance to surge our schedule to make up lost training as soon as possible."

Altus' training mission maybe hindered at present, however, the long-term future is bright.

"The Airmen of the Mighty 97th have truly risen to the challenge this past week to recover from the storm," said Colonel Thomas. "And we'll do the same to overcome the training backlog. It's why we're all here."