There will be a slight increase in training missions to support the school house, however we will receive the manpower and aircraft back to accomplish this workload.”Īccording to Szatkowski this move is going to provide a stable environment for JBLM personnel as they will no longer have to do 60-day rotations to JBMDL, which equates to Airmen having more time with their families. “The WIC moving to JBLM will be relatively seamless to the technician on the flight line. “Moving the WIC to JBLM will create a more stable environment for the MXG members as they can produce the missions from the home environment versus a 60-day temporary duty assignment to JBMDL.
Mark Szatkowski, 62nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron commander. “Since we took over the support of the WIC, our overall manpower has decreased but our deployments have remained unchanged which means we have to do more than less,” said Lt. Historically, each year, two-five month classes were conducted which would produce 12 active duty and reserve component weapons officers but the squadron had no dedicated aircraft assigned and the classes required three to four C-17’s to conduct the training missions.įor several years JBLM has provided support for this course by providing the aircraft and the maintenance needed. We will be better able to utilize the C-17 tails and also leverage the experience of the C-17 instructors for Team McChord training and exercises.” “This will save millions of dollars since JBLM previously was tasked with sending C-17 aircraft and maintenance personnel to JBMDL to support the course. This is a premier course and can better enable our training and joint exercises due to the experience and cutting-edge tactical innovations out of the weapons school. “The C-17 WIC move furthers the already tremendous Joint Warfighter capabilities here at JBLM. “While it is not a large squadron in numbers of personnel, it is an incredibly capable force multiplying unit that is a welcome addition to JBLM.” Leonard Kosinski, 62nd Airlift Wing commander. “We will gain the 57th WPS along with its tremendous cadre and staff.” said Col. The 57th Weapons Squadron and the C-17 WIC will relocate to JBLM by the summer of 2017 and aligns with one of the Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James’ priorities of making every dollar count. Recently Air Mobility Command announced the move of the Weapons Instructor Course in 2017 from Joint Base McQuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., a move that is anticipated to save the government $12 million annually.