Delivery of US Air Force C-130J-30 Super Hercules 19-5940 to McLaughlin Air National Guard Base, West Virginia, on May 26 marked the arrival of the eighth and final C-130J-30 for the West Virginia Air National Guard/130th Airlift Wing’s (AW’s) 130th Airlift Squadron 'Mountaineers in Green.'
Its arrival from the Lockheed Martin factory in Marietta, Georgia, marked completion of replacement of the unit’s eight older model C-130H3s with the latest variant.
The USAF selected the 130th AW for transition from the C-130H3 to the C-130J in November 2020, after 25 years of operations with the older variant. At the beginning of 2021 the unit dispersed its eight existing C-130H3s to various bases across the US and began re-equipping with the C-130J-30 model. The final C-130H departed from McLaughlin in August 2021. Lockheed Martin announced on March 15, 2021, that one of the aircraft delivered to the 130th AW, 19-5934, was particularly significant for the company, being the 500th C-130J to be delivered.
The new 130th AW C-130J-30 fleet now comprises 17-5897, 18-5908, 18-5914, 18-5917, 18-5928, 19-5934 and 19-5940, plus one more as yet unidentified.
