Westover Air Reserve Base remains what Air Force Officials called a reasonable alternative, but was not chosen as the primary alternative to house the new KC-46A tankers.
The KC46A-Pegasus, manufactured by Boeing is a new aerial refueling tanker plane on the military market to replace an aging fleet.
MSgt. Andrew Biscoe, of Westover Air Reserve Base said, “It’s an airplane that’s very much needed by the Air Force because it provides global mobility for our airforce. It’s a brand new plane that hasn’t actually gone into mass production yet. It’s like a jetliner that you see at Bradley. It’s a large but quiet airplane.”
Air Force officials were looking for the first reserve-led KC-46A main operating base to house 12 of the new planes. Westover Air Reserve Base was among 18 bases being considered, and was in the top four being assessed.
Surveys of each base looked at operational, training requirements, housing, infrastructure and manpower.
The evaluation of Westover Air Reserve Base did find that they do have the infrastructure to take care of a fleet of new KC-46A’s. The base already has about 4,600 personnel that take care of ten C-5’s.
Air Force Officials announced Thursday Westover Air Reserve Base, although a reasonable alternative, was not a primary alternative to house the new tanker plane.
Lt. Col. James Bishop, of Westover Air Reserve Base said, “The bad news is that we did not get chosen as a tenant base for the KC-46 tanker. The good news is that we went through an extensive vetting process and so we’ve got the real estate and the modern infrastructure to take possibly the next round.”
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina has been slotted as the preferred base. The KC-46’s are expected to begin arriving there in 2019.
Westover Air Reserve Base started as a major active duty base 75 years ago this month. That’s when it started as a bomber training base during World War Two.
Story and video: http://wwlp.com
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