News

Maintenance groups go away, materiel groups are born

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Candice Allen
  • 446th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
Out with the old and in with the new. Effective Oct. 1, the 446th Maintenance Group will stand down and the 446th Materiel Group will take its place. 

The Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Gen. T. Michael Moseley, announced on Dec. 7, the reorganization of Air Force wing operations and logistics functions. 

"With this reorganization, the Air Force is given an opportunity to create a new process-aligned structure that will better support the logistics enterprise, flying wings and combatant commanders," said General Moseley. 

Under the reorganization the old 446th MXG will absorb about 350 Reservists from the 446th Logistics Readiness Flight and 36th and 86th Aerial Port Squadrons and become the 446th Materiel Group. Currently, both logistics readiness and the aerial port squadrons fall under the 446th Mission Support Group. 

"The transition will be as seamless as possible," said Col. Jon Huguley, 446th MXG commander. "All that will change will be their reporting group commander." 

With the creation of the materiel groups across the Air Force, aircraft maintenance units will leave the maintenance groups and realign to the operations groups. This reorganization immediately affects the fighter, bomber, and rescue aircraft maintenance units and will be implemented between July and November. 

However for the airlift community, the decision on the structure of aircraft maintenance in operations and when they will move has not been finalized. According to Colonel Huguley, several options have been presented to the commander of Air Mobility Command, with a decision expected within a few months. 

"Air Force Reserve Command is fully engaged with AMC and will align our organizations based on AMC directives," said Colonel Huguley. "They'll also provide a programming plan on how to implement the changes." 

When the decision is made about the path maintenance units will take under this reorganization, the results will be released through command and public affairs channels.