US Air Force, ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE: Members of the Kazakhstan Republic air force visited here this month in an effort to learn more about how the U.S. Air Force takes care of business.
The seven-person group visited the C-130 Hercules combat loss replacement program, where modifications are made to enable C-130s to be combat ready to replace other aircraft lost in the war effort.
“They are interested in acquiring C-130s themselves,” said Joye Marshall, the Foreign Military Sales Logistics Flight director for the C-130 program here. She said the group was here to see how the Robins Air Force Base C-130 Hercules program is set up and operates.
While touring the programs facilities, David Griffin, the C-130 Production Flight chief, spoke about work schedules for the modifications and about other maintenance programs on the base such as program depot maintenance on the C-130 and the man-hours and costs involved with scheduled maintenance. The group also discussed some of the labor and maintenance costs associated with the C-130 program.
“We are maintenance engineer officers interested to find out how long it takes to overhaul the plane,” said Col. Yerlan Zhanakayev, the engineering aviation directorate deputy chief for the air force of the Kazakhstan Republic.
The group said they wished they could have seen more of the C-130 maintenance program, but because the 402nd Maintenance Wing was presently under inspection as part of the Logistics Standardization Evaluation Team's visit, access was limited.
However, Colonel Zhanakayev said because their air force has little knowledge of the C-130 program, all of the knowledge presented by Mr. Griffin was new to the officers. “The general information about maintenance and the repair process was interesting,” Colonel Zhanakayev said.
Along with the interest in purchasing C-130s or another aircraft of its class, the group was also here doing research about the organization of the U.S. Air Force because the air force of the Kazakhstan Republic is looking at reorganizing.
Along with touring C-130 facilities, the group visited the Airmen and Family Readiness Center, the newly opened Fire Station 2 and the dining facilities on base.
Before returning to the Kazakhstan Republic, the group visited Keesler AFB, Miss., where they met with air traffic controllers, as well as Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga., and Lockheed Martin, where they learned more about C-130 aircraft and its maintenance programs.
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