Air Force cutbacks reduce Ramstein's C-21 transport fleet

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Source: Stars & Stripes

Air Force cutbacks will reduce Ramstein's C-21 transport fleet
By Scott Schonauer, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Tuesday, January 9, 2007

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — Air Force squadrons at bases worldwide — including Ramstein Air Base — have begun retiring more than half of their C-21 fleet as part of a servicewide effort to cut personnel and save money.

The Air Force announced last month that it will transfer 38 aircraft, sending 16 from active-duty units to the Air National Guard in Fargo, N.D., and Bradley, Conn. The rest of the jets will be sent to the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., and the Air Force Flight Standards Agency at Will Rogers Air Guard Station in Oklahoma City, Okla.

The C-21 is the military’s version of the Lear 35A business jet and is used mostly to transport senior-level officials, cargo and ambulatory patients. The twin turbofan engine aircraft, which first arrived in the Air Force in 1984, carries seven passengers.

The Air Force’s active-duty fleet had 74 C-21As, according to the service’s Web site. Each cost more than $3 million in 1996.

Ramstein’s 76th Airlift Squadron will lose three of its 13 C-21s, commander Lt. Col. Dan Baldessari said. He flew the first C-21 from the squadron’s fleet on Monday afternoon to Davis-Monthan. The others will leave Ramstein later this month.

“We are fortunate to be losing only three,” Baldessari said. “There are units in the States who have lost half or more of their C-21s — or are going to — based on these budget decisions.”