C-17s To Replace Retirees

Change is tough. Retirement is tougher. Especially when you have been doing a reliable, competent job for more than 40 years.

But there comes a time when the old has to make way for the new. And so it goes for C-130s at Alaska's Elmendorf Air Force Base, flying into retirement to make way for new C-17 Globemaster IIIs. (Editor's Note: earlier sources misidentified the base as Eielson AFB. ANN regrets the error.)

The C-130 Hercules aircraft, a medium-range, tactical airlift aircraft designed primarily for transporting personnel and cargo, was originally flown in 1954 and has been under continuous production since. The Air Force currently has about 700 C-130s of various configurations in its current C-130E and H fleet, with the average age of the active duty C-130 fleet over 25 years old.

The average age of the Guard and Reserve C-130s is about 15 years old. The aircraft are under the management and control of the Air Mobility Command (AMC) and are operated by the active Air Force, the Air National Guard, and the Air Force Reserve.

As reported by KTUU Television in Alaska, Friday was a day for memories as pilots Tommy Freedman, Robert Holmes and Gen. Herbert Carlisle made their final C-130 flight.

"It's the only plane I flew on -- can't be no better than a C-130," Freedman said. "If your light on fuel, she'll get you home. She's always brought me back, never let me down."

Friday's final flight provided the opportunity for former crew members, the 517th Firebirds, to bid farewell and remember.

"It is the last flight by the C-130 in Alaska, that's the glory of this event today," said Gen. Carlisle. "It's the end of an era."

"Its all part of the Air Force managing most of our scarce resources," said Gen. Carlisle. "The C-130s, today, are the most sought-after airplanes for the ongoing global War on Terrorism."

"Very glad, very glad," Holmes said. "I'm sorry a lot of these Firebirds couldn't make it. They missed something outstanding."

The C-130s have transported thousands of soldiers overseas during the Iraq War, while also providing humanitarian relief in Iraq and Thailand. Their replacements arrive at Elmendorf on June 11.

Anyone have a tissue... or gold watch?

FMI: www.fas.org/man/gao/nsiad-98-108.htm, www.eielson.af.mil