Blue Tigers destined to fly the Super Hercules

At the end of December 2022, Air Force Reserve Command's (AFRC's) 757th Airlift Squadron Blue Tigers, part of the 910th Airlift Wing, was selected to receive the C-130J in the future.

The Secretary of the USAF, Frank Kendall, selected Youngstown Air Reserve Station (OH) as the preferred location to replace its eight legacy C-130Hs with eight Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft.

This latest action recapitalises an AFRC C-130H squadron, fulfilling the Fiscal Year 2021 Defense Appropriation and Fiscal Year 22 proposals, which congressionally added eight C-130J aircraft to the AFRC.

Youngstown ARS was selected to host the Super Hercules after a site survey was conducted that assessed the location based on factors related to mission, infrastructure capacity, community support, environmental considerations, and cost. The Department of the Air Force (DAF) will now conduct an environmental impact analysis at Youngstown. The analysis is expected to be complete in summer 2023. After that, a final basing decision will be made.

According to the Scramble Magazine database, the following eight C-130Hs are now based at Youngstown: 89-9105, 89-9106, 90-9107, 90-9108, 92-3021, 92-3022, 92-3023 and 92-3024

Photo via USAF