C-5s, Airmen to be cut from Patriot Wing

  • Published
  • By MSgt. Andrew Biscoe
  • 439th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
WESTOVER AIR RESEVE BASE, Mass. --  More than a dozen media gathered April 28 as Brig. Gen. Steven Vautrain, 439th Airlift Wing commander, held a news conference announcing force cuts at Westover.

Standing outside base operations in front of a pair of C-5s, the wing commander said that half of the 439th Airlift Wing's C-5 fleet - and more than 300 jobs here - would be cut as a result of Pentagon budget cuts and sequestration.

While the host unit 439th AW flies 16 C-5B models, eight C-5s will transfer from Westover to Joint Base San Antonio- Lackland, Texas, beginning in March 2015. The C-5 fleet is scheduled to be upgraded to the re-engined M-models. In the plan, Westover will retain eight of the refurbished C-5Ms.

Personnel losses include 59 full-time enlisted and 275 drilling reservists. This number has not been finalized nor has a timeline been released yet.

Drilling reservists are those Airmen who perform unit training assemblies (UTAs) at the base monthly, while the fulltime air reserve technicians (ARTs) are civil service employees during the week. ARTs also report for the monthly UTAs.

"These changes affect the core of our mission here - our dedicated men and women," Gen. Vautrain said. "These reductions will incur hardships on our people. We will take care of our people; we will place as a many as possible in other positions within the wing and programs will be available to assist those displaced by this change in force structure."

Gen. Vautrain reminded the media and the base population that the wing and base will remain viable within the Air Force.

"We'll have fewer aircraft and people," he said. "We will continue to fulfill our global mobility mission before, during and after these changes. We'll continue to be Leaders in Excellence."

ARTs should consult with the military personnel flight and civilian personnel offices on base, while drilling reservists should work through the MPF.

Faced with austere budgets, the Air Force is refocusing and reducing the size of its forces to comply with the president's new defense strategy and the Budget Control Act's requirements to cut $487 billion from the defense budget over the next eight years.

The full complement of the eight C-5M Super Galaxy airlifters is scheduled to be in place at Westover by June 2018.