ACC buys back flying hours

Published July 7, 2005

LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. (ACCNS) -- Air Combat Command restored an estimated $201 million to its flying hour program July 1 after receiving additional funds from Headquarters Air Force.

Air Force officials approved the buy-back, which will help alleviate the loss of readiness resulting from the $272 million, 31,349-hour cut, which was announced earlier this year, said Maj. Dean Gould, Chief of the ACC flying hour program.

The Air Force had approved the earlier cuts in the flying hour program to meet budget shortfalls and help cover expenses incurred from the Global War on Terrorism. Those cuts represented about 60 percent of the remaining planned flight hours for the year.

With the new funding, units are restoring their flying hours for July, August and September. The command is now targeting a stop-fly date of Sept. 26 for the fiscal year.

Restoring ACCs flying hours for the next three months is a key readiness issue as we continue to provide forces for the War on Terrorism, said Maj. Gen. Mike DeCuir, ACCs director of Air and Space Operations. With this additional funding, we are able to ensure we maintain combat readiness for all operations at home and abroad.

The reprogramming of funds back into the flying hour program brings the actual cuts for this fiscal year down to $100 million and equates to about 11,000 hours, Major Gould said. These numbers are based on hours not flown from May 15 to July 1.

Even though ACC recovered about 20,300 hours, the major said the refund is limited. If the cost per flying hour goes up, the result would be a decrease in the number of hours available for the remainder of this year. As such, the command is continuing its efforts to maximize every available hour.

Flexibility and patience will ensure we reach our training and budget goals, the major said.