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Successful sortie ushers in new era at Martinsburg air base

Ground crew and those aboard the first local training sortie of a C-17 at the 167th Airlift Wing at the West Virginia Air National Guard base in Martinsburg, W.Va.: (From left) Staff Sgt. Mark A. Kelley Jr., Master Sgt. Joseph S. Bosacco, Capt. Justin S. McCabe, Lt. Col. Lisa Windle, Master Sgt. Charles R.D. Moore, Capt. Christopher K. Nary and Chief Master Sgt. Leslie Y. Morris.

 

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — The Martinsburg-based 167th Airlift Wing of the West Virginia Air National Guard is ahead of schedule in its work with its new aircraft, the C-17 Globemaster III.

The first training flight took place Thursday, weeks ahead of schedule according to Air Guard officials.

“The fact that this sortie was able to happen ahead of schedule and without a hitch is a tribute to the hard work of all those who have been working this conversion over the last year,” said Capt. Justin S. McCabe, who piloted the C-17 along with Lt. Col. Lisa Windle and Capt. Christopher K. Nary.

The initial mission lasted two hours. The C-17 was flown into Pennsylvania and back to Martinsburg.

“A lot of different moving parts go into getting just one training mission off of the ground and this trial run gave us a good indication on where we stood,” McCabe said in a news release. “There are a lot of different agencies working behind the scenes.”

The 167th transitioned from the larger C-5 aircraft to C-17s earlier this year. The first plane arrived Sept. 25, and the airlift wing expects to have eight C-17s by July 2015.





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