�gWe are on the path for a new and expanding role for McGuire Air Force Base,�h said Saxton, fourth highest-ranking among 61 members of the House Armed Services Committee. �gEssentially this program takes the best C-17 flight instructors and raises them to another level. The goal is to produce Air Force instructors who are experts in all operational aspects of C-17s. �h

The decision to create the C-17 Weapon Instructors Course (WIC) was made by the Air Force in late 2002, and modeled after similar schooling at other bases for the C-130 Hercules (a four-prop airlifter) and the KC-135 Stratotankers (a jet air refueler). The three courses will combine to become the U.S. Air Force Mobility Weapons School, which also debuts in July and is headquartered at Fairchild AFB, WA.

The C-17 WIC will be based at the Air Mobility Warfare Center on Fort Dix, and is expected to use a dozen instructors. The WIC runs for nearly a half-year and covers 325 hours of classroom instruction and 135 flight hours on 25 flights. Four areas will be covered:

 �¡ advanced tactical maneuvering- to study flying and threat-reduction techniques;
 �¡ direct delivery- to study air-drop, air-refueling and landing techniques;
 �¡ joint operations- to study large airborne operations with Army paratroopers, and;
 �¡ mission employment- two weeks at Nellis AFB in Nevada for large scale simulations.

A final paper similar to a graduate thesis is required. Once the course is completed, the graduates are dispatched to disseminate their knowledge to other flight instructors.

The first C-17 WIC, planned by the U.S. Air Force�fs Air Mobility Command (AMC), is expected to start in early July and be completed in December.

McGuire is the AMC hub of the East Coast, and is slated to receive 12 brand new C-17s cargo planes in mid-2004.