McGuire participates in KC-10 weight reduction event Published April 9, 2007 By Senior Airman Rachel Martinez 305th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs McGUIRE AIR FORCE BASE, N.J. -- Members of the Pentagon's Air Staff visited McGuire March 28-29 as part of a KC-10 weight reduction event. Lt. Col. Thomas James, AF/A3/5 AFSO21-CASCO, and Maj. Carlos Gacharna, AF/A3/5 AFSO21, met with 21 members of the 305th Operations Group and 305th Maintenance Group to discuss ways to reduce the weight on a KC-10, thus reducing the amount of energy used. "The Team McGuire representatives were selected as the experts in their given career fields - knowledgeable in all aspects of the mission, equipment and aircraft system requirements," said Master Sgt. Brett Parlante, 305th Operations Group KC-10 flight engineer evaluator superintendent. A KC-135 weight reduction event was held at Hickam AFB, Hawaii, Jan. 5-7, and a C-5 weight reduction event was held at Dover AFB, Del., Mar. 1-8. The Air Force is the largest consumer of fuel in the DoD. Aviation accounts for the majority of this consumption. Aviation fuel use is 82 percent of the Air Force's annual consumption, with aviation mobility making up 42 percent. With this in mind, the process owners for the AFSO21 Process Council's Conduct Air, Space and Cyber Ops team, identified 15 potential fuels events that will save $750 million annually. The weight reduction event, priority number five out of the 15 events, is estimated to save approximately $6.8 million annually. "100 pounds of weight reduction across the Mobility Air Forces results in $680,000 a year, or 1.6 million pounds of fuel," said Major Gacharna. "One thousand pounds equals $6.8 million a year, or 16 million pounds of fuel saved." The goal of the aircraft weight reduction event was to remove all unnecessary weight. This was done by identifying all aircraft equipment, weighing it and then cataloguing it. The equipment was then divided into four categories: mission critical; mission critical but with potential less quantity; mission critical with modifications/lighter weight materials; and non-mission critical. The team gathered data on the weight and criticality of more than 100 inventoried pieces of equipment on board the KC-10, with the goal of identifying removable items, according to Sergeant Parlante. "Overall, we inventoried 9,000 pounds, and we could take off 2,000 pounds today," said Major Gacharna. The team also identified some additional KC-10 items to be considered that could save energy. "Your wing has a really good team with a gung-ho attitude," Colonel James said about the McGuire team he worked with. "Your team found new things and different conclusions than any other base," added Major Gacharna. The final result of all this work is a Headquarters AMC sponsored aircraft configuration review at the Pentagon April 16-17 where the team will develop AMC-specific guidance on standard configuration for all MAF aircraft.