Folks,

After the Spring invasion of Iraq, the US Army discovered that the USAF was not going to be very co-operative in helping with intra-theater airlift to relieve the pressure on dangerous ground convoys and the hours on the CH-47 Chinook fleet. So it brought in its small fleet of Army National Guard C-23C Sherpas. And for such a small number of aircraft it soon found them invaluable. But all the flying around was wearing them out. So in October 2005 the US Army put out a small request for proposals for a replacement for the C-23C fleet -- ie the Future Cargo Aircraft. Only two aircraft met the need, and both were non-USA design: the Italian C-27J and the Spanish C-295 (most were betting on the C-295 as it was unpressurized but the aircraft was suppose to take the load off of the CH-47).

Well, the US Army soon ran afoul of two very powerful groups in the Pentagon: Lockheed Martin who was teamed with the Italians on the C-27J who were d*mned if they were going to help push an aircraft in competition to their C-130 in US sales and The United States Air Force of America (ie from now on known as the USAF).

The USAF raised quite a stink on the subject. They said the US Army knew the agreement made in the early 1960s, plus the USAF was planning -- ie of all things -- to acquire a fleet of tactical transports in the same size, etc of the US Army's FCA requirement the Light Cargo Aircraft program. So why should the US Army worry about acquiring a replacement if the USAF was going to have the aircraft anyway (ie the fact that the USAF was shedding pilots fast had absolutely nothing to do with the issue).

Well, the US Army made the best deal they could. The USAF offered the US Army the option of they acquiring both the same aircraft for a joint program. The only hitch was that the aircraft the US Army acquired would be under the command of Joint Force Air Component Commander -- ie a USAF general. The US Army wasn't happy, but anyone and everyone knows who has the clout in the Pentagon when it comes to turf wars between the USAF and the US Army. And the C-23Cs were about worn out.

So a new program came into existences: The Joint Cargo Aircraft program. It was pretty well a done deal as to which aircraft was going to win the contest as the USAF insisted that the winner be pressurized. And that was the C-27J. And it won.

But it does not end there. The US Army early in its FCA proposals had the Italian aircraft listed as the C-27J which was the name that both Lockheed and the Italians had agreed on (it used the same engine and a lot of the cockpit features of the C-130J -- ie by the way, Lockheed was pushing a short version of the C-130 that the taxes payers would pay to develop). The USAF -- ie remember their general controls both US Army and USAF JCA aircraft bought -- insisted that the designation be changed from C-27J to C-27B. Serious! The US Army pointed out it would cost 16 million dollars to change the documentation. That dispute is still being fought.

Finally, some Civil War history. One of the big advantages that the Union forces had was the Spencer repeater. It was an extremely reliable weapon with a high rate of fire in the days of muzzle loaders. It gave cavalry and mounted units a lot of fire power to enable them to seize passes and hold the Confederates off and at Gettysburg delayed Lee's forces till General Meade could bring his forces up. But it had one problem. The head Union general in charge of ordnance was against the Spencer (he gave the argument about different ammo). Luckily President Lincoln was brought in and over ruled that general. ALL Union cavalry regiments by the end of the Civil War had Spencers (another US Army general retired the Spencer after the Civil War and the results was Little Big Horn). While not the President, Secretary of Defense Bill Gates needs to step in and clip the USAF wings AGAIN. He should make it clear that the JCA is canceled. And the US Army's FCA is back with the US Army controlling those aircraft. And that plus the USAF is getting no C-27J Spartan's. They never wanted any, anyway. And Gates should make it clear, he can fire another USAF Chief of Staff and Secretary of the Air Force if need be.


Jack E. Hammond


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I just wanted to drop a quick reply to your post. I agree, first off, that the USAF conduct on this issue was not the greatest. I think our new tandem leadership will help build intra-service relations a great deal.

But let's think here for a second. The Army is a ground component. You have a branch to help with scale movement as well as CAS. But the USAF's job is to run the bulk of transport in theater. The USAF provides a great deal of CAS as well (A-10's & F-16's). Duplication of mission is a huge waste of money. I may be bias to the USAF a bit here too. But I'm all about consolidating efforts. I would love to see just one US military branch. Keep everything simple. I just hope The new leadership atually pulls off to a great start.

Point is it sounds good on paper but the Air Force is failing to provide the needed INTRA theater support.

Thus the over working of the Hooks in the beginning, then bringing in Sherpas to take up that slack that were flying in a threat environment with no protection and getting wore out themselves. To add, even with the Sherpas (which are still here) they don't provide the support that is required.

Therefore the Army came up with the C-27 and the AF seemed to like the idea and had their ego hurt a little.



Now, even thought the Army fields 3 AEB's fully of RC-12s that are being upgraded to a common S model configuration to hold off the ACS project the Air Force is doing a rapid fielding of their OWN RC-12 fleet to do the same job.

Who is duplicating resources now? Talk about wasted money.

The Army is the only service component that is beholden to the Air Force. All the other components take care of themselves.