An official website of the United States Government 
Here's how you know

Official websites use .gov

.gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS

A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Air Force Can Retire KC-135, Transcom Commander Says

You have accessed part of a historical collection on defense.gov. Some of the information contained within may be outdated and links may not function. Please contact the DOD Webmaster with any questions.

U.S. Transportation Command is responsible for moving people and materiel around the globe in support of the nation's defense needs. It relies, in part, on the use of the Air Force's aircraft to do that.

When the Air Force hoped to retire some aircraft within the KC-135 Stratotanker fleet in order to make way for the new refueling aircraft, the KC-46 Pegasus — which was delayed — Army Gen. Stephen R. Lyons, commander of Transcom, thought it inadvisable. But that is no longer the case.

2:09:07
Play

"At that time, the ... implications for day-to-day operations were significant," Lyons told lawmakers yesterday before a hearing at the House Armed Services Committee. "Since that time, the United States Air Force has done some incredible work, first to make sure that Boeing is signed up to complete the work that they're under contract to complete. Second, to work through some interim capability releases to allow us to use the KC-46 in operations."

Lyons said that while the KC-46 refueling aircraft is not compatible now with every aircraft that might need to be refueled, it's compatible "across a large portion" of them.

A military aircraft flies against a blue sky.
KC-135 Stratotanker
A U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker assigned to the Iowa Air National Guard’s 185th Air Refueling Wing in Sioux City, Iowa, takes off from the Sioux City airport for a local flying mission on August 29, 2018.
Credit: Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Vincent De Groot, Air National Guard
VIRIN: 180829-Z-KZ880-018C
A military aircraft sits in silhouette against an orange sky and setting sun.
KC-10 Extender
A KC-10 Extender assigned to Travis Air Force Base, Calif., parks on the flight line after a mission across the Pacific Ocean, Feb. 16, 2017.
Credit: Yasuo Osakabe, Air Force
VIRIN: 170216-F-PM645-599C

The Air Force has also delayed retirement of some KC-10 Extender aircraft, Lyons said. And this puts Transcom in a good position, Lyons added.

"I really appreciate the support of the Air Force," Lyons said. "I've talked to the chief about this, I think we're in a very good place. I do think it's the right decision to allow the Air Force to retire the KC-135s that they requested to retire."

Another aircraft is visible through an aircraft window.
C-17 Globemaster
A C-17 Globemaster III is piloted close to a KC-46 Pegasus during a refueling training flight over central Washington state, Jan. 30, 2019.
Credit: Air Force Airman 1st Class Sara Hoerichs
VIRIN: 190130-F-WX530-140C

Transcom is also responsible for the movement of household goods when service members make a permanent change of station. To better serve customers there, Lyons told lawmakers, improvements are underway to better assess how customers rate their experiences with the contract movers Transcom uses to move service members. Right now, less than a third of customers respond to post-move surveys.

"When we look at the survey information that comes in, our estimate is about 30% of the customers ... respond on surveys," Lyons said. "My guess is we get both extremes. But we could do better in that population. We have taken initiative and have put a company under contract to improve our survey process, and that's underway at the moment ... to make sure it's more accurate, more thorough, easy, and the analytics on the backend are more meaningful to drive better business decisions. That's one of many initiatives in the area of defense personal property reform."

Related Stories