C-5M SUPER GALAXY
All 52 examples of the M variant had been
delivered to the USAF by late June this year.
All of the ‘legacy’ models – the As and the Bs- have been converted or were withdrawn
by September 2017, and both of the Cs have
been upgraded in C-5Ms.
Conversion onto the type is provided by
the C-5M Super Galaxy Formal Training
Unit, originally stationed at Dover AFB,
Delaware from 2012 until 2017, but now
located at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland
Kelly Field Annex, in Texas. The station
is also home to the 433rd Airlift Wing –
the rst and only air force reserve unit to
operate the C-5M.
The primary frontline units equipped with
the C-5M are the 60th Air Mobility Wing at
Travis with the 22nd Airlift Squadron; the
337th Airlift Squadron of the 439th Airlift
Wing, at Westover, Massachusetts; the 68th
Airlift Squadron, 433rd Airlift Wing at Kelly
Field, and the 9th Airlift Squadron, 436th
Airlift Wing at Dover.
The Galaxy’s role is much the same
today as ve decades ago at service entry –
strategic airlift. Looking to the future, further
upgrades are on the cards and include
incorporating advanced weather radar,
mission computing, communication and air
traffic management systems. The C-5M will
remain in service for at least another 25
years – still serving its country at 75. With
few, if any, replacements on the horizon,
and the prohibitive cost of developing such
a machine, there’s a strong chance the
Galaxy will still be ying for years after that.
Could it make the magical 100? It can’t be
ruled out.
For more on the C-5A and ’Bs history,
visit the Air Mobility Command’s website
and see the excellent article by Dr John
W Leland and Kathryn A Wilcoxson.
http://www.amc.af.mil/Portals/12/documents/
AFD-131018-052.pdfhttp://www.aviation-news.co.uk 63“In 1967 the type
was christened
- appropriately
considering its huge
size – the Galaxy,
and the prototype
was rolled out for
President Lyndon B
Johnson on
March 2, 1968.”
A Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker with the Ohio-based 121st Air Refueling Wing, about to top up
the tanks of a C-5 Galaxy from the 436th Airlift Wing, from Dover, over northern Ohio on May 24,- US ANG/Airman 1st Class Tiffany A Emery
The last USAF C-5M Super Galaxy to be delivered for operational use, on the apron near
a Lockheed Martin hangar in Marietta, Georgia. It now belongs to the 439th Airlift Wing at
Westover AFB, Massachusetts. DoD/MSgt Stephen D Schester58-63_galaxyDC.mfDC.mf.indd 63 03/07/2018 11:24