A Herk for the Poles

A Herk for the Poles: The Polish Air Force last week received the first of five refurbished C-130E Hercules transports at its Powidz Air Base. Maj. Gen. William Chambers, director of air and space operations at US Air Forces in Europe, said the Poland is "one of our allies who are very willing to go," so it is "vital" for them to have that organic capability. He continued, "Whether it is Afghanistan or Iraq, they've been alongside the Americans in both fights." Calling the arrival of the tactical airlifter "a milestone," Polish Brig. Gen. Tadeusz Mikutel, 33rd Air Base commander, said in a Polish embassy statement: "The plane is able to carry 17 tons of equipment or 90 equipped soldiers. That is why the plane will leave [our current] CASA planes behind." According to a Polish Ministry of Defense statement, Poland expects to receive the other four Hercules by summer 2010. A US Air Force Total Force crew picked up the aircraft at the L-3 Communication Integrated Systems Waco (Tex.) Integration Center and, along with a Polish aircrew, flew the C-130 to Poland. (USAFE report by Capt. Tony Wickman)

3/31/2009

Verbatim

No Dog, Just Concern
"You know it concerns me that we keep hearing, 'Well this is something that the military doesn't want. They didn't ask for,' and all that. Then I go over there [Southwest Asia theater], and that's not their attitude at all. They have needs over there. Our lift capacity is in dire straights. … Now on the F-22—just yesterday we read about the T-50 … a fifth generation [fighter] that the Russians have. … I'm concerned about this. And I guess, you know, if we're down to 187 F-22s, and I think out of that only—what 120 are actually combat ready and used for combat. … I look at our committee—the Senate Armed Services Committee—and on these two vehicles I mentioned—the F-22 and the C-17—in Oklahoma. I don't have a dog in that fight. We don't have any parochial interest there. But it's the capability that we're going to need."
—Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), speaking during the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the Fiscal 2011 defense budget, Feb. 2, 2010.

Verbatim

Taming Expectations
"Every QDR disappoints those who look for radical reallocation of resources. The current fiscal environment is compounding that trend."
—Jim Thomas, vice president for studies at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, briefing reporters in Washington, D.C., Jan. 26, 2010.