Enroute Maintenance Support for Fighter Deployments

<p>The purpose of this research was to examine Air Mobility Command's (AMC) role in providing enroute maintenance support for deploying fighter squadrons through the Enroute Support Team Aircraft (ESTA). The ESTA mission hurts AMC's overall airlift flow because the mission durations are so unpredictable. This paper searches for alternatives to the traditional ESTA. Two main alternatives are explored; first using enroute stopover bases which house the same type fighter as those deploying and second using the KC-10 in a dual role acting as both lead navigation tanker as well as the ESTA for the deploying squadron. The dual role KC-10 holds the most promise as a consistent way for AMC to lessen the burden which the ESTA places on it but changes in the planning process as well as in AMC Instructions would have to be implemented to realize the potential benefit.</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p>