940th ARW first UTA with a Global Hawk

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Luke Johnson
  • 940th Air Refueling WIng Public Affairs
BEALE AIR FORCE, Calif. --  In another historical milestone of the transformation of the 940th Air Refueling Wing from aerial refueling to flying the unmanned RQ-4 Global Hawk, the 13th Reconnaissance Squadron used a RQ-4 Global Hawk for training maintainers during the January unit training assembly weekend here. 

According to Air Force Reservist, Lt. Col. John Welch, 13th RS commander, having the Global Hawk during the UTAs will help traditional reservists get the necessary instruction they need as maintainers on the unmanned aerial reconnaissance aircraft. 

"This is a significant step forward for us. Most of our people have lots of experience with the KC-135 and no experience with the Global Hawk. Having access to the aircraft during UTAs will allow us to get our troops qualified and trained," said Lt. Col. Welch. 

He also said coordination with the 9th Maintenance Group was required for the 13th RS to use a Global Hawk during the wing's UTA weekends. 

"We (940th ARW) don't own and will never own a Global Hawk, so we have to work closely with active duty maintainers to get access to the aircraft for training purposes," he said. 

Prior to the January UTA, the 13th RS depended upon active duty maintainers to sign off tasks for reservists. Now the squadron has enough maintainers to sign off tasks for TRs during UTAs. 

"Before today we have been largely dependent upon the active duty to sign off our (maintenance) tasks," he said. "We have had individuals qualified, but now for the first time, we have a team. This is a milestone that brings us much closer to the associate team mate we want to be." 

Since the Global Hawk is the Air Force's new high-altitude, long endurance intelligence and reconnaissance aircraft, training reserve maintainers to augment the active duty forces is a top priority for Lt. Col. Welch. 

"The active duty side is running 24 hour shifts for training to get people qualified on the Global Hawk; it is a challenge to get TRs trained during the week, he said. "Now that the 940th can use the aircraft during the UTAs, we can get our reservists trained."

Air Force Reservist, Staff Sgt. George Engleheart, 13th RS avionics technician said now that there is a Global Hawk during the UTAs, maintainers can get more in depth on Global Hawk maintenance. 

"It is a 100 times better to have a Global Hawk here during the UTAs," Sergeant Engleheart said. "We now have more time to do hands on training to get our maintainers qualified." 

Lt. Col. Welch foresees a successful future with the use of the Global Hawk for training purposes during the UTA weekends. 

"Hopefully, we will have two jets to train on for future duty weekends, so we can continue to multiply our capabilities to support the total force initiative at Beale," said Lt. Col. Welch.