I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3476 
To authorize the Secretary of the Air Force to designate the Illinois Air 
National Guard 126th Air Refueling Wing at Scott Air Force Base 
as a Center of Excellence for KC–135R maintenance operations. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 25, 2021 
Mr. BOST (for himself, Mr. KINZINGER, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. 
RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, and Mrs. MILLER of Illinois) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 
A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of the Air Force to designate 
the Illinois Air National Guard 126th Air Refueling 
Wing at Scott Air Force Base as a Center of Excellence 
for KC–135R maintenance operations. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Air National Guard 
Air Refueling Wing Center of Excellence Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:43 Jun 22, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3476.IH
H3476
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
(1) The 126th Air Refueling Wing has a long, 
decorated history of exceeding its fiscal year goals in 
Mission Capable Rate, Aircraft Availability, Hourly 
Use, Home Station Logistics Departure Reliability, 
flying hours, sorties, and fuel offloaded. 
(2) The 126th Air Refueling Wing was the top 
performing KC–135R unit in 2016, receiving the Air 
Force Outstanding Unit Award. 
(3) The 126th Air Refueling Wing had the 
highest mission capable rating for all KC–135R air-
craft, Active, Guard and Reserve for fiscal years 
2016, 2017, and 2018, and is on track for fiscal 
year 2019, with a 89.06-percent mission capable rat-
ing. 
(4) The 126th Air Refueling Wing set the bar 
for home station departure reliability rate, exceeding 
Air Mobility Command’s goal of 78 percent with a 
three-year average of 98.16 percent. 
(5) The 126th Maintenance Group won the cov-
eted Maintenance Effectiveness Award for being the 
top Maintenance Group in best Small Aircraft Main-
tenance unit category (<300 personnel) in the Air 
National Guard for fiscal year 2017. 
(6) The 126th Maintenance Group was the vi-
sionary of ‘‘Project 14’’, which is the premier 14-day 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:43 Jun 22, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3476.IH
H3476
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
KC–135 periodic inspection model championed by 
the National Guard Bureau. 
(7) The 126th Maintenance Group completed 
17 periodic inspections of aircraft and nine periodic 
inspections on other units’ KC–135s, increasing the 
mission capable rating by 8 percent and potentially 
setting the standard for periodic inspection regional-
ization. 
(8) The 126th Air Refueling Wing flew 27 
black letter flights (aircraft with zero discrepancies), 
including one flight in CENTCOM to support the 
warfighter. 
(9) Air Mobility Command awarded the 126th 
Air Refueling Wing was the top tanker wing in fuel 
efficiency for fiscal year 2016 and 2017. 
(10) The 126th Maintenance Group spear-
headed the modeling of conditioned based mainte-
nance plus, the benchmark for all KC–135 units. 
(11) The 126th Air Refueling Wing supported 
the Illinois State Partnership Program, strength-
ening ties with the Polish Air Force during Joint 
Exercises BALTOPS/Clear Sky in 2018, flying 23 
sorties while offloading 875,000 pounds of fuel to 
102 receivers. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:43 Jun 22, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3476.IH
H3476
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
(12) The 126th Air Refueling Wing supported 
Joint Forces Domestic Operations in support of 
Hurricane Irma relief efforts in 2017. 
(13) The 126th Mission Support Group’s Logis-
tics Readiness Squadron was awarded the Air Na-
tional Guard’s Base Logistics Activity of the Year in 
2017. 
(14) The 126th Maintenance Group mantra of 
‘‘Fix It Today Safely’’, combined with the overall 
126th Air Refueling Wing efforts, enabled aircraft to 
safely fly over 3,500 sorties and over 16,000 hours 
to refuel more than 2,700 U.S. Air Force and Allied 
aircraft in fiscal years 2016, 2017, and 2018. 
(15) Several members of the 126th Air Refuel-
ing Wing have received honors for their superior 
work, including: 
(A) #1 Paralegal in a Reserve Component 
for 2018 as awarded by Air Mobility Command 
and recognized by Judge Advocate General 
Corps; 
(B) #1 Intelligence, Surveillance, and Re-
connaissance Senior Noncommissioned Officer 
in Air Mobility Command for 2017; 
(C) #1 Noncommissioned Officer in the 
State of Illinois for 2018; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:43 Jun 22, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3476.IH
H3476
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
(D) #1 1st Sergeant in the State of Illi-
nois for 2018; and 
(E) #1 Airman in the State of Illinois for 
2017. 
SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO DESIGNATE A CENTER OF EXCEL-
LENCE FOR KC–135R MAINTENANCE. 
The Secretary of the Air Force may designate the 
Illinois Air National Guard 126th Air Refueling Wing at 
Scott Air Force Base as a Center of Excellence for KC– 
135R maintenance operations. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:43 Jun 22, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H3476.IH
H3476
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS