A primer of the United States Air Force aircraft/missile Technical Coordination Program

DISAM Journal,  Winter, 2003  by Forrest Smith

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The current acting TCG Chief is George Kalebaugh who leads a staff of twenty-two. The original charter and current membership consists of three international customers: Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. The Republic of Korea may join in the future when they enter the sustainment stage for their new F-15K aircraft. The F-15 TCG currently supports upwards of 437 F-15 (C, D, I, J, S) aircraft. International users make up about 30 percent of the worldwide fleet.

Initial membership in the F-15 TCG is normally established as a line on the original systems sale LOA. The line covers internal services, studies and surveys, and travel. Sustainment is accomplished using follow-on "G" or "Q" cases with lines for the following:

* Internal services,

* Contracted services, and;

* Studies and surveys, and overseas travel.

Costs of the program are based on number of aircraft in the member's inventory.

F-15 Technical Coordination Group in Action

During Operation Iraqi Freedom, two USAF F-15 aircraft from Kadena Air Base, Japan experienced massive fuel leaks from the top and bottom of aright wings during a deployment to a Middle Eastern location. To correct the problem in the shortest time, there were two options: repair or replace the wing. When the decision was made to replace the wing, WR-ALC aircraft requirements division approached the F-15 TCG for assistance. The TCG had a contract with a Middle Eastern company providing programmed depot maintenance for foreign customers in the area. The company and the foreign customer were very receptive to assisting the Air Force. The cost and time would be a tremendous savings since they have depot level personnel already in the area. The team was able to successfully complete the depot portion in two days and the aircraft was returned to a flying status-with no defects. Two weeks later the team returned for the second wing change. Again the change was flawless. The Air Force realized a substantial savings in cost and time with the assistance of the TCG.

C-130 Technical Coordination Group

The C-130 transport, named "Hercules" from the mythical Greek hero renowned for his great strength, first flew forty years ago (1954) and has been delivered to more than sixty countries around the world, More than 2,200 C-130s have been built, and they are flown by more than sixty nations worldwide, in more than seventy variations,

The C-130 TCG was formed in 1987 to provide a more direct line of operational assistance to the FMS users of the C-130 Hercules aircraft. The first TCG Chief was Victor Bowden who is still at WR-ALC. The current TCG Chief is Sherman Rankin who leads a staff of twenty-five. The C-130 TCG currently supports twenty international customers with approximately 261 C-130 (B, C, E and H) aircraft. With a USAF fleet of 600 aircraft, international users make up over 40 percent of the worldwide fleet.

The 16 original member countries were Brazil, Chile, Egypt, Greece, Israel, Japan, Korea, Pakistan, Philippines, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, and Turkey.