*****
ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Marine Corps has taken delivery of its first Boeing C-40A Clipper transport aircraft, the first of two that will be operated by the Marine Forces Reserve.
The C-40A arrived at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth Texas on May 19, the Marine Forces Reserve said in a release. It will be operated by Marine Transport Squadron One (VMR-1), a unit of Marine Aircraft Group 41, 4th Marine Air Wing.
“VMR-1 will use these aircraft to support the Marine Corps and joint services with assault support in the form of air logistics, providing time-, place- or mission-sensitive, long-range, multipurpose air transport and critical logistical support of key personnel and cargo between and within combatant commands and theaters of war,” the release said.
VMR-1 flew two C-9B Skytrain II aircraft from Joint Base Andrews-NAF Washington, Maryland, until 2017, when the squadron moved to NAS-JRB Fort Worth to provide crews to share C-40A Clipper transports with Navy Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 59. According to the 2022 Marine Corps Aviation Plan, VMR-1 will move to Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, by fiscal 2024 to replace the two C-20G Gulfstream IV transports there that support the Indo-Pacific Command.
The two Marine C-40As were not new-build aircraft but were converted from two used Boeing 737 airliners. The Navy Air Reserve operates 17 C-40As — the first of which was delivered in 2001 — in six fleet logistics support squadrons for Navy-unique fleet-essential airlift missions.
