Boeing Co,
ST. LOUIS: Officials from March Air Reserve Base took delivery today of the first C-17 Globemaster III airlifter to be based in California and flown by California citizen airmen.
Named “Spirit of California,” the aircraft flew to its new home near Riverside, Calif., about 65 miles east of the Boeing [NYSE: BA] Long Beach facility where C-17 aircraft are assembled and where the delivery ceremony was held. dt
“We're extremely proud and excited to receive the Air Force Reserve Command's first C-17 here at March,” said Maj. Gen. Robert E. Duignan, commander, 4th Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command at March ARB. “It's an extraordinary aircraft that increases our ability to accomplish our Total Force, global-reach mission, which is critical to the war on terrorism. March is the first reserve wing with the Globemaster III and it will continue to demonstrate the capacity of our citizen airmen to serve America.”
The newly delivered aircraft is the U.S. Air Force's 138 th operational C-17 and the first of eight scheduled for delivery to March ARB between now and January 2006. The new C-17s will be flown and maintained by the Air Force Reserve Command's 452nd Air Mobility Wing at March.
“As the only airlifter that can fly between continents and land on short austere airfields, the C-17 does the work of several planes,” said Ron Marcotte, Boeing vice president of Airlift and Tanker Programs. “The C-17 is the most technologically advanced airlift aircraft ever built, and March's C-17s are the most capable in the fleet.”
The C-17 fleet has amassed more than 850,000 flying hours
