NZ’s Little Rock team settles in at … well … Little Rock

Story, research by ANDREW KACIMAIWAI

A SMALL Royal NZ Air Force contingent and family have set up shop as the “very southern” members of Team Little Rock at the USAF’s Little Rock AFB in Jacksonville, Arkansas.
The Kiwis are training for the new five new RNZAF Lockheed Martin C-130-30 Super Hercules being assembled at the company’s Marietta, Georgia, plant.
The initial tranche of RNZAF crews for the C-130Js arrived at Little Rock AFB at the start of this year; these flying and aircrew instructors who will be taught up to then develop an in-country C-130J training system in New Zealand.

Sixteen RNZAF maintenance personnel began training in February at Little Rock AFB as well; they have been integrated into the 714th Training Squadron for their education before they work directly with the 19th Airlift Wing.
(They had an eventful start to their training in March when multiple C-130Js and aircrews were evacuated from Little Rock AFB to MacDill and Scott AFBs to avoid supercell storms that were due to hit the base followed weeks later by a tornado scare.)
According to Little Rock AFB, the RNZAF 16 have graduated from the first mechanical and technical training courses with the 373rd Training Squadron Detachment 4.

Det 4 has been working with the RNZAF and New Zealand’s Ministry of Defence since September 2021 to develop the first-ever blended international course.
As a tenant unit on Little Rock AFB, Det. 4 is a geographically separate unit of the 373rd TRS, Sheppard AFB, Texas, and trains about 1600 maintainers a year in all C-130 maintenance career fields supporting over 80 Active, Guard, and Reserve and allied nations C-130 units worldwide.
The Kiwi contingent will undergo training for about six months with Det. 4 before working directly with the 19th Airlift Wing.
“This is definitely the birth of a new course,” said Tech. Sgt. Grant Carpenter, 373rd TRS Det. 4 section chief.
“We’re hoping this will set the new standard for international training for the C-130Js and working with our allied nations.”
The new mechanical and technical training courses have been designed to incorporate multiple maintenance USAF Specialty Code knowledge and expertise through Cross Utilization Training (or CUT training).
The students will learn the basics in multiple aspects of aircraft maintenance, such as communication navigation, integrated flight controls, fuel and environmental defense systems.
Instructors will use classroom discussion, C-130J flightline simulator training devices and hands-on aircraft training to provide full, in-depth C-130J knowledge quickly and efficiently.

“The resources they have available and the staff’s knowledge are world-class,” said RNZAF Sgt. Alex Jones, aircraft technician.
“A lot of us have our H model experience so we’re trying our best to convert it and take on new information.”
The start of maintenance training marks the kick-off of three years of building joint readiness between the two countries.
The NZ trainees were also joined by their families on base, according to Wing Commander Wayne Morris, the New Zealand Foreign Liaison Officer.
“The trainees are really looking forward to learning and working alongside the USAF,” he said.
Later this year, six crews of RNZAF pilots and loadmasters (and families) will begin training at Little Rock.
Col. Angela Ochoa, 19th Airlift Wing commander, met with three members of the New Zealand Ministry of Defence where they discussed the future of the training and details on the integration process.
“New Zealand has been a long-standing ally and friend of the United States, and we at LRAFB are honoured to host and work hand-in-hand with their personnel,” Col. Ochoa said.
“I am looking forward to us learning from each other in the days ahead and strengthening the bonds between our two nations.”
On April 25, the RNZAF team held an ANZAC Day Dawn Service ceremony on the base.

In May, New Zealand defence officials and Lockheed Martin personnel attended the company’s assembly plant in Marietta, Georgia, for a bulkhead signing ceremony.
Sarah Minson is NZ Defence’s Deputy Secretary for Capability Delivery. She described the C-130J-30 as the RNZAF’s “likely first response option” overseas and will also support other government agencies.
“While we are a South Pacific nation, our ability to be part of the region, requires a capability that can get people and equipment to where they need to be, often over long distances, and always at short notice,” she said.

Since 1965, the C-130H has served New Zealand in that role with five wearing the Kiwi insignia.
Attendees at the Georgia ceremony toured the factory floor and saw the aircraft take shape as components of the fuselage were assembled.
The first C130J-30 is due to arrive in Aotearoa (New Zealand) in 2024 with full fleet deployment by September 2025.
The first New Zealand-based C-130J conversion course is scheduled for 2026 but it is not required any earlier because a quota for the initial six fully trained crews will have already been provided for.
A dedicated full motion C-130J simulator will also be delivered to RNZAF 40 Squadron with about 80 per cent of pilot training expected to be completed in the simulator.
Lockheed Martin also locked in a $38 million deal to supply Super Hercules Weapons System Trainers to the Kiwis.
The September 2022 agreement covers engineering, manufacturing and development, production, integration, testing, and delivery of training devices.