Deliveries began on January 8, 1986 when
the 443rd MAW at Altus AFB received its
initial C-5B. The 60th MAW at Travis and
436th MAW at Dover respectively received
their fi rst new aircraft on July 29 and August
29, 1986. The 50th and fi nal C-5B was
delivered to Dover on April 17, 1989, joining
the 77 surviving C-5As then still in service.
In June 1987 Lockheed began modifying two
C-5As to enable them to carry outsize cargo on
behalf of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA). Carried out at a cost
of $133.8 million, the modifi cations included
the removal of the upper-deck troop
compartment, re-designing the aft pressure
door and bulkhead and widening of the aft
cargo doors. Originally referred to asC-5A(SCM), the Space Cargo Modifi ed (SCM)
aircraft were assigned the designation C-5C
and both were returned to service by early
1989.
The infl ux of new C-5Bs allowed units of the
Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard to
re-equip with C-5As, and the fi rst Galaxy was
delivered to the 433rd MAW at Kelly AFB,
Texas, on December 1, 1984. Subsequently, in
July 1985, the New York ANG’s 105th Military
Airlift Group (MAG) received its fi rst C-5A
and the 439th MAW at Westover Air Reserve
Base, Massachusetts, followed in October- The latter unit later welcomed the fi rst
of 16 C-5Bs in June 2006. Eventually C-5As
were assigned to three more Air Force Reserve
Command and ANG units. Deliveries to the
Tennessee ANG’s 164th AW in Memphis, and
AFRC’s 445th AW at Wright-Patterson AFB,
Ohio, respectively began in October 2004 and
October 2005. The fi rst Galaxy for the West
Virginia ANG’s 167th AW arrived in
Martinsburg on December 4, 2006.
By 2003, the decision had been made to
retire 14 C-5As, comprising the 11 oldest
aircraft and three other high-time airframes.
Serial 69-0004 was sent to the Warner-Robins
Air Logistics Center at Robins AFB, Georgia,
where it was utilized for a three-year,
four-phase structural risk analysis and model
re-validation study. It determined that the C-5
airframe was capable of a 45,000-hour service
life, and based on operational tempo it could
be retained in service until at least 2040.
The fi rst C-5A was sent to Davis-Monthan
AFB, Arizona, for storage with the 309th
Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration
Group (AMARG) on November 4, 2003. Since
then, 60 examples have been placed in storage
and 13 aircraft scrapped after being stripped of
useable components. The fi rst AMP-modifi ed
C-5A was placed in storage on February 26,- Serial 69-0014 became the fi rst C-5A to
be placed on public display following its
arrival at Dover on August 7, 2013 (see the
boxed item on the Air Mobile Feasibility
Demonstration Galaxy). Once demilitarized, it
joined the collection of the Air Mobility
Command Museum at Dover on November 9, - By early 2015, just 13 C-5As remained
on the active inventory, although at least three
of those were retained in fl yable storage.
AMP
The Avionics Modernization Program (AMP)
engineering and manufacturing development
(EMD) contract was awarded to Lockheed
Martin on January 22, 1999. Originally
valued at $120 million, the program
included prototype installation in two C-5s.
In addition to a modern digital ‘glass’
cockpit, the AMP involved communication,
navigation, surveillance/air traffi c
management (CNS/ATM) system upgrades. It
was intended to improve reliability and
ensure that the aircraft would comply with
Global Air Transportation Management
(GATM) requirements. AMP also provides
digital automatic fl ight control system
(AFCS), satellite communication (SATCOM)
capability, high-frequency (HF) datalink,
enhanced ground-proximity warning system
(EGPWS), traffi c alert and collision
avoidance system (TCAS) and an enhanced
combination ring laser gyro/inertial referenceWing/Group Squadron Location Aircraft
Air Mobility Command (AMC) — Scott AFB, Illinois
60th AMW/OG 22nd AS Travis AFB, California C-5B/C/M
436th AW/OG 9th AS Dover AFB, Delaware C-5M
Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) units
349th AMW/OG (see Note 1) 312th AS Travis AFB, California C-5B/C/M
433rd AW/OG 68th AS Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas C-5A
356th AS (FTU) Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas C-5A
439th AW/OG 337th AS Westover ARB, Massachusetts C-5B
512th AW/OG (see Note 2) 326th AS Dover AFB, Delaware C-5MC 5 GALAXY OPERATORS MARCH 1, 2015
Abbreviations
AMW Air Mobility Wing
AS Airlift Squadron
AW Airlift Wing
FTU Formal Training Unit
OG Operations GroupNotes
1 The 349th AMW is an associate unit and
operates and maintains aircraft assigned to the
60th AMW.
2 The 512th AW is an associate unit and operates
and maintains aircraft assigned to the 436th AW.As this C-5M gets airborne, note
how the main undercarriage
turns before retracting. Lockheed
Martin/Andrew McMurtrieSrA Eric Embree, a 60th Aircraft Maintenance
Squadron crew chief, marshals a C-5M Super
Galaxy onto its parking slot on the Travis AFB
ightline. USAF/SSgt Patrick Harrowerhttp://www.combataircraft.net May 2015 7370-77 AMC Part 1- C5 C.indd 73 20/03/2015 11:16