Poland’s first two C-130E Hercules aircrews recently completed 11 weeks of C-130E flight training in the United States, and will soon return to Poland. The flight training was conducted in Nashville by the 118th Airlift Wing, a unit of the Tennessee Air N

16:08 GMT, November 17, 2008 Classroom and flight simulator training as well as maintenance training was also conducted at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas. Poland will receive 5 refurbished and upgraded C-130E Hercules aircraft, with the aircraft and training being financed by $98.5 million dollars in grant money under the Foreign Military Financing program. The aircraft will be based at Powidz Air Base as part of the 3rd Air Transport Brigade.

Each C-130E is operated by a crew of 5 Airmen; Pilot, Co-Pilot, Navigator, Flight Engineer, and Loadmaster. The C-130E can carry up to 6 pallets of equipment or 92 combat troops. The first Polish C-130E is scheduled to arrive in December and all 5 are scheduled to be delivered by the end of 2009.