Never looking back, always leaning forward

  • Published
  • By Capt. Shawn M. Walleck
  • 911th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
PITTSBURGH IAP ARS --  Air Force officials' notified members of the Pennsylvania delegation March 13, 2013 to announce the results of the Intra-theater Airlift working group, which formed as a result of language contained within the fiscal 2013 National Defense Authorization Act. The NDAA directed the Air Force to look at retaining 32 of the 64 proposed C-130 cuts, which was initially recommended under the Force Structure announcement released in early February of last year. Of those C-130s being cut eight were from the 911th Airlift Wing and the FSA also called for the closure of the base.

The March 13th announcement called for a reversal of the initial Force Structure Announcement plan and restored all eight of the Wing's aircraft. "We are very pleased with today's announcement. This decision speaks to the strategic significance of the location of the 911th, from both a geographic and economic stand point," said Col. Craig C. Peters, 911th Airlift Wing commander.

The 911th's strategic location collocated with Pittsburgh's International Airport, provides the 24/7 support needed to complete required training locally. This joint use agreement with the Airport plays a large part in the unit's success and extremely low operating costs. Additionally, the unit's encroachment free access to low level navigation routes and two large drop-zones enables 911th aircrews the ability to conduct vital combat readiness training at a fraction of the cost of most other units. In total, the cooperative partnership the 911th enjoys with the airport and local community results in a synergetic relationship which produces valued capability to the nation either for overseas or homeland defense missions.

One might think that under the black cloud of closure, force restructuring, a continuing resolution, the Budget Control Act or sequestration that the Wing would begin to show signs of stress, thereby degrading mission capability. This was not the case, as the workforce not only remained focused on the mission but also remained committed to improving and strengthening the current capability.

To date, the Wing has successfully returned from an award winning four-month long deployment to Southwest Asia, currently leads the command in Joint Airborne/Air Transportability Training (JA/AAT) for the last seven years running and continually improves their maintenance Isochronal Inspection process, which stands alone at saving the Air Force more than $73 million and 1,073 aircraft availability days since 2007.
Never looking back and setting sights on the future, the Wing anticipates seeing an increase in personnel support for the Aeromedical Staging Squadron's Enroute Patient Staging System; hosting the Patriot Warrior exercise, which stages significant assets and resources here at the 911th throughout the duration of the event; preparing for the 2014 Operational Readiness Inspection; and opening the new Navy Operational Support Center headquarter building.

With local asset already in place, while other projects begin to solidify, it opens the door for greater potential here. "We are uniquely positioned for an active association here due to our new commissary completing construction this year and having a Tier 1 VA healthcare facility in the city, propels the 'services transformation concept' into a real possibility here," Peters concluded.