Air National Guard Air Refueling Wing Center of Excellence Act
Bill: H.R.3476 | Sponsor: Rep. Bost, Mike (R-IL)
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
This bill authorizes 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.

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 Representatives 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:
            (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 aircraft, 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 
        rating.
            (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 coveted Maintenance 
        Effectiveness Award for being the top Maintenance Group in best 
        Small Aircraft Maintenance unit category (<300 personnel) in 
        the Air National Guard for fiscal year 2017.
            (6) The 126th Maintenance Group was the visionary of 
        ``Project 14'', which is the premier 14-day 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 regionalization.
            (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 spearheaded the modeling 
        of conditioned based maintenance plus, the benchmark for all 
        KC-135 units.
            (11) The 126th Air Refueling Wing supported the Illinois 
        State Partnership Program, strengthening 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.
            (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 Logistics Readiness 
        Squadron was awarded the Air National 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 Refueling 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 
                Reconnaissance Senior Noncommissioned Officer in Air 
                Mobility Command for 2017;
                    (C) #1 Noncommissioned Officer in the State of 
                Illinois for 2018;
                    (D) #1 1st Sergeant in the State of Illinois for 
                2018; and
                    (E) #1 Airman in the State of Illinois for 2017.

SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO DESIGNATE A CENTER OF EXCELLENCE 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.
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