page_title: Boeing C-17 Globemaster III
section_title: United States Air Force
hierarchical_section_title: Boeing C-17 Globemaster III / Operational history / United States Air Force
caption_attribution_description: English: Thirteen C-17 Globemaster III aircraft fly over the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia during low level tactical training Dec. 20, 2005. These C-17 planes are assigned to the 437th and 315th Airlift Wings at Charleston Air Force Base, S.C. Français&#160;: Treize avions C17-Globemaster III volant au dessus des Blue Ridge Mountains en Virginie (USA) durant un entrainement tactique le 20 décembre 2005. Les avions présentés appartiennent aux 437 et 315e compagnies de la base de Charleston (Caroline du sud)
context_page_description: The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft that was developed for the United States Air Force from the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas. The C-17 carries forward the name of two previous piston-engined military cargo aircraft, the Douglas C-74 Globemaster and the Douglas C-124 Globemaster II. The C-17 commonly performs tactical and strategic airlift missions, transporting troops and cargo throughout the world; additional roles include medical evacuation and airdrop duties. It was designed to replace the Lockheed C-141 Starlifter, and also fulfill some of the duties of the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, freeing the C-5 fleet for outsize cargo.
  Boeing, which merged with McDonnell Douglas in 1997, continued to manufacture C-17 aircraft after the merger. The transport is in service with the U.S. Air Force along with air arms of India, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, NATO Heavy Airlift Wing, and Kuwait. The final C-17 was completed at the Long Beach, California plant and flown on 29 November 2015.
context_section_description: The first production C-17 was delivered to Charleston Air Force Base, South Carolina, on 14 July 1993. The first C-17 squadron, the 17th Airlift Squadron, became operationally ready on 17 January 1995. The C-17 has broken 22 records for oversized payloads. The C-17 was awarded U.S. aviation's most prestigious award, the Collier Trophy, in 1994. A Congressional report on operations in Kosovo and Operation Allied Force noted "One of the great success stories...was the performance of the Air Force's C-17A" The C-17 flew half of the strategic airlift missions in the operation, the type could use small airfields, easing operations; rapid turnaround times also led to efficient utilization.
  On 26 March 2003, nearly 1,000 U.S. service members were parachuted into the Kurdish-controlled area of northern Iraq during Operation Northern Delay in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  This was the first combat insertion of paratroopers using the C-17.
  In 2006, eight C-17s were delivered to March Joint Air Reserve Base, California; controlled by the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC), assigned to the 452d Air Mobility Wing; and subsequently assigned to AMC's 436th Airlift Wing and its AFRC "associate" unit, the 512th Airlift Wing, at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, supplementing the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy. The Mississippi Air National Guard, 172 Airlift Group received their first C-17 in 2006.  The only Guard Unit to receive sequential serial number aircraft. The Mississippi Air Guard currently operates 8 C-17 aircraft.  In 2011, the New York Air National Guard's 105th Airlift Wing at Stewart Air National Guard Base, New York, transitioned from the C-5 to the C-17.
  C-17s delivered military goods during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq as well as humanitarian aid missions in the immediate aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the 2011 Sindh floods delivering thousands of food rations, tons of medical and emergency supplies. On 26 March 2003, 15 USAF C-17s participated in the biggest combat airdrop since the United States invasion of Panama in December 1989: the night-time airdrop of 1,000 paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade occurred over Bashur, Iraq. The airdrop of paratroopers were followed by C-17s ferrying M1 Abrams, M2 Bradleys, M113s and artillery. USAF C-17s have also been used to assist allies in their airlift requirements, including Canadian vehicles to Afghanistan in 2003 and Australian forces during the Australian-led military deployment to East Timor in 2006. In 2006, USAF C-17s flew 15 Canadian Leopard C2 tanks from Kyrgyzstan into Kandahar in support of NATO's Afghanistan mission. In 2013, five USAF C-17s supported French operations in Mali, operating with other nations' C-17s (RAF, NATO and RCAF deployed a single C-17 each).
  A C-17 accompanies the President of the United States on his visits to both domestic and foreign arrangements, consultations, and meetings. The C-17 is used to transport the Presidential Limousine, Marine One, and security detachments. There have been several occasions when a C-17 has been used to transport the President himself, temporarily gaining the Air Force One call sign while doing so.
  There was debate over follow-on C-17 orders, Air Force having requested line shutdown while Congress attempted to reinstate production. In FY2007, the Air Force requested $1.6 billion in response to "excessive combat use" on the C-17 fleet. In 2008, USAF General Arthur Lichte, Commander of Air Mobility Command, indicated before a House of Representatives subcommittee on air and land forces a need to extend production to another 15 aircraft to increase the total to 205. Pending the delivery of the results of two studies in 2009, Lichte observed that the production line may remain open for further C-17s to satisfy airlift requirements. The USAF eventually decided to cap its C-17 fleet at 223 aircraft; its final delivery was on 12 September 2013.
caption: USAF C-17s fly over the Blue Ridge Mountains in the eastern U.S. in December 2005
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