C-17 Globemaster team wins Secretary of Defense Performance-Based Logistics award Published Sept. 25, 2012 By Capt. Gerald Martinez C-17 Globemaster III Combined Program Office ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- The C-17 Globemaster Integrated Sustainment Partnership, much of which is located at Robins, recently won the 2012 Secretary of Defense "Gerald R. Beck" Performance Based Logistics Award in the system level category for teaming the Air Force with The Boeing Company to provide global sustainment support to all operators of the C-17. The C-17 Globemaster III Combined Program Office here manages the partnership and employs 196 civilians, contractors, and military personnel, a team that works to ensure high aircraft availability and reliability for 239 aircraft, based at 18 main operating locations for the air or defense forces of the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and NATO. Using a "Virtual Fleet" construct, they pooled and positioned spares and services enabling 55,000 sorties and more than 220,000 flying hours while maintaining an 86 percent aircraft in-commission rate with an average of 49 sorties flown between aircraft failures. By aggregating requirements, examining demand patterns, and repositioning buy and repair processes, costs per flying hour were reduced by 10 percent. The PBL is a key Department of Defense strategy used to deliver an integrated, affordable, support solution designed to optimize system readiness. The Secretary of Defense PBL awards recognize government and industry teams that have demonstrated outstanding achievements in providing warfighters with exceptional operational capability through PBL agreements. "It is a pleasure coming to work every day with such dedicated and professional men and women. They are what make this the number one PBL sustainment program," said Col. David Morgan, chief of the C-17 Globemaster III CPO. "This is definitely a team sport to achieve the levels of performance this program has enjoyed," Gus Urzua, vice president and program manager at Boeing, added. "Together, we are stronger and achieve more than if we were trying to do this separately." The award will be presented Oct. 30 at the Aerospace Industries Association Fall Product Support Conference in Charleston, S.C.