Dobbins Air Reserve unit needs new planes, chambers say
Credit: Jenni Girtman
Local chambers are pushing Georgia’s U.S. senators to make sure Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Cobb County isn’t left behind in a broader Air Force effort to replace older planes with new C-130J aircraft.
The host unit of Dobbins Air Reserve Base, the 94th Air Wing, is responsible for the base’s security, fire protection, air traffic control and other services.
It also provides “combat-ready units ready to deploy on short notice” around the world, ranging from military operations to humanitarian and medical missions.
And it’s one of three remaining Air Force Reserve installations — and the only one left in Georgia — not to be chosen for an upgrade of its “aging” aircraft, according to the Cobb Chamber of Commerce and Metro Atlanta Chamber.
“For a state with such a vibrant defense presence and a region with such concentrated economic and strategic importance, this must change,” Cobb Chamber President and CEO Sharon Mason and Metro Atlanta Chamber President and CEO Katie Kirkpatrick wrote in a letter sent this week to the senators.
The 94th’s “continued strength … relies on operating the most advanced, capable aircraft available,” they wrote.
Mason told the AJC the upgrade is “critical” for the strength of both the unit and the future of Dobbins itself.
“We believe it’s Dobbins’ turn for this investment.”
Strengthening the host unit “strengthens the entire base — and safeguards its long-term role in national defense,” she said.
Plus: Those new C-130Js are manufactured right next door at Lockheed Martin’s Marietta plant.
“While this letter is really important, and the advocacy for the rejuvenation of this air wing is important, it actually has a ripple effect,” Kirkpatrick told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an interview.
It promotes the base, but it also supports Lockheed’s production, she said. “So it’s a 1 + 1 = 3 for this region.”
A spokeswoman for the Air Force told the AJC on Friday they are “currently unaware of any plans to assign C-130Js at Dobbins ARB.”
Credit: Seeger Gray / AJC
‘Puts the region on the map’
Lockheed Martin employs 5,500 in Atlanta alone and it has been making C-130s in Marietta for more than seven decades, the longest-running military aircraft production line in history.
In a statement, U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff said he and U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock have “relentlessly advocated” for the replacement of the older C-130H fleet with the new Georgia-made C-130Js.
“Since I was elected, we have funded dozens of C-130Js into law above the President’s budget request, and I will continue working to fund more C-130J’s,” Ossoff said.
As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Ossoff will have a hand in this year’s defense appropriations bill.
Warnock told the AJC in a statement he will continue “doing all I can in the government funding process to bring these critical aircraft to Dobbins Air Reserve Base, just across the runway from where they are made.”
The new C-130Js are “the world’s premier tactical airlifter with 54 world aviation records set,” said Chris Karns, a spokesman for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.
“No aircraft on the planet matches its versatility,” with the ability to handle combat, firefighting, medical relief, arctic support and more, he said.
The planes require fewer crew members, but they also have a litany of improved features including more powerful engines, faster maximum airspeed and lower fuel consumption.
While the C-130H is “certainly capable,” he said, it “has less power, range, fuel efficiency, and performance capability than the C-130J.” It also can see higher maintenance requirements and costs because of its age.
Dobbins Air Reserve Base is home to more than 5,700 people between the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps.
But it also “puts the region on the map” and helps in recruiting aerospace and defense industry to the metro, said Kristi Brigman, chief economic development officer at the Metro Chamber.
Dobbins is “an important part of the aerospace ecosystem and reputation for the region as a whole,” she said.
About the Author
As a business reporter, Emma Hurt leads coverage of the Atlanta airport, Delta Air Lines, UPS, Norfolk Southern and other travel and logistics companies. Prior to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution she worked as an editor and Atlanta reporter for Axios, a politics reporter for WABE News and a business reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
