Boeing delivers C-17 training center to Air National Guard

ST. LOUIS, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- The fourth of five C-17 training centers for pilots and loadmasters has been delivered by Boeing to the U.S. Air National Guard under a 2010 contract.

The center is located at the Memphis Air National Guard base in Tennessee and provides a variety of training scenarios, including sophisticated mission operations and emergency procedures.

"The Boeing team enabled us to increase training efficiency while reducing travel time, aircraft fuel and operating costs, which is an extremely important factor during this era of increased fiscal restraints and tightened budgets," Boeing quoted Maj. Joel Taylor, chief of aircrew training for the 155th Airlift Squadron.

The training center in Memphis is the Air Force's 25th C-17 trainer and the fourth of five ordered under from Boeing in a 2010 contract. A fifth center under the contract is scheduled to be delivered to Shepherd Field Air National Guard Base in Martinsburg, W.Va., later this year.

The C-17 Globemaster, with a payload of 170,900 pounds, is the U.S. military's largest transport aircraft.