First future C-5M to return to fleet departs for Georgia

  • Published
  • By MSgt. Andrew Biscoe
  • 439th Airlift Wing
WESTOVER AIR RESERVE BASE, Mass. --  The first Patriot Wing C-5B Galaxy – to return here following modifications in Georgia -- left here Feb. 10.

The C-5 departed the base amid light snow and headed for Dobbins Air Reserve Base, where the C-5’s manufacturer, Lockheed-Martin is co-located. The aircraft will be modified to the Super Galaxy M-model.

When the modifications are complete, the 439th Airlift Wing’s first M-model is scheduled to rejoin the other seven C-5s assigned to Westover by the early summer of 2017. Defense budget cuts recently reduced the Westover fleet from 16 to eight aircraft.

C-5 units at Dover Air Force Base, Del., and Travis AFB, Calif., are already modernizing to the C-5M models. Eventually, the stand-alone reserve units at Westover and Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, will also have C-5Ms. The M-models include newer, quieter, and more powerful engines, and improved lighting in the cargo compartment.