Kirtland Air Force Base welcomes new unit to New Mexico

Sep. 5—Albuquerque residents will soon see a new, gray plane parting the skies over Kirtland Air Force Base.

The 58th Special Operations Wing at Kirtland was named by the Air Force as the best location for the plane in 2020. Kirtland will also be the location for all training missions involved with the AC-130J. The only other bases in the United States dedicated to the AC-130J and its training are Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis and Hurlburt Air Force Base in Florida. This is the first time Kirtland has been selected for those duties.

The AC-130J Ghostrider plane's arrival from Hurlburt will add nearly 500 jobs and six additional Ghostrider planes to Kirtland in the next few months.

What does the Ghostrider do?

The plane provides close air support (convoy escort and point air defense), air interdiction and armed reconnaissance. The AC-130J provides ground forces with an expeditionary, direct-fire platform that is persistent, ideally suited for urban operations and delivers precision low-yield munitions against ground targets. The aircraft contains an advanced two-pilot flight station and has been modified with a Precision Strike Package, which includes 30-millimeter and 150-millimeter weapons.

AC-130J planes have a long history of combat going back to Vietnam. The plane has been credited throughout history as being integral to life-saving close air support missions.

The 73rd Special Operations Squadron will be in charge of maintenance for the plane and will begin training to operate the plane.

Ceremony and the crew

Thursday morning, more than 100 people went to Kirtland to celebrate the arrival of the first Ghostrider. Distinguished members of the Air Force were present and honored in a celebration, and the names of crew members were etched into the side of the plane.

Joshua Martin, 73rd Special Operations manager, said the arrival of the AC-130J will make his days a little busier than before.

"Things will get busier and busier as we bring students in to train our precision air commandos," he said. "It's an awesome opportunity and a consolidated training with one training schoolhouse for the plane."

Martin's day-to-day job will be "making sure this plane is ready to get off the ground with our aircrews and those aircrews are ready to go train our new air commandos that are coming into the pipeline," he said.

Cole Jarvis, weapons system operator for the 73rd Special Operations, will train new commandos to operate the plane. He says the plane is very unique and requires a new set of skills to operate.

"We're a really unique aircraft with guns hanging off the side of the aircraft. There are C-130's but none like us, so I'll be teaching people navigation duties, fueling and operating the weapons," Jarvis said.

Duane Miller, assistant operations officer for 73rd Special Operations squadron, will be one of the first to train for the AC-130J. Previously, he worked on an AC-130W at Cannon Air Force Base.

"I have never flown the AC-130J, but right now I'm going through the initial courses and should start training for it next calendar year, learning to fly the plane and land and take off," Miller said.

"The biggest difference is the way the plane flies. The plane is all electronic, so learning that and understanding the engines and their power allows us to do our job more effectively," he said.