UPDATED 8:48 A.M. 9/15
PEORIA, Ill. – Peoria’s Air National Guard base is one of four nationwide that will receive upgraded C-130 aircraft.
That’s according to the Air Force, announcing Thursday Peoria, Hartford, Connecticut, Great Falls Montana, and Minneapolis guard bases will replace what are called C-130 H aircrafts, with C-130 J’s – known as “Super Hercules.”
That’s pending the results of environmental studies.
Each base including the 182nd Airlift Wing is expected to get eight of the aircraft.
The 182nd’s Colonel Rusty Ballard tells WMBD’s “Greg and Dan Show”, even the crew for the new C-130’s will be different, due to changes in the navigation system.
“We have two pilots, a flight engineer, a navigator and two load masters on the current H model, so a six man crew. When you go computer-based, mega digital, you get rid of that flight engineer, which is managing all the systems, and a navigator…because it’s all computer-based now,” Ballard says.
Those changes, Ballard says, means there will be a loss of jobs with the new C-130 J’s.. He hopes to be able to move the affected personnel to other positions on-base.
Guardsmen assigned to the new C130’s will also have to be retrained.
“It’s going to be a whole new process. We’re going to have to go to Little Rock (Arkansas), which is the training center for the C-130 in the Air Force. And, it’s going to be a six or seven month course for each person to go down there and learn,” Ballard says.
A final decision on the new C-130 aircraft won’t be made until 2025.
Nevertheless, Congressman Darin LaHood says in a news release that’s good news, calling the 182nd one of the nation’s premier C-130 units.
“Since joining Congress in 2015, upgrading the 182nd’s fleet has been a top priority of my office,” said LaHood (R-Dunlap), in a news release. “I am pleased the Air Force has appropriately recognized the leadership of the 182nd and I will continue to advocate for the men and women who serve our nation in Congress.”
Ballard expects the 182nd Airlift Wing will get the first C-130 J’s in October of 2026, though it may take a bit longer.
Each C-130 aircraft costs roughly $85 million.
