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By William Cole, Honolulu Advertiser
HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE — There will be a C-17 Globemaster III burger at the grill.
The 17th hole on the golf course is being re-designated the C-17 hole.
The 17th lane at the bowling alley is being painted to reflect an aircraft designation.
Three years ago, when word came that Hickam would get eight of the Air Force's latest-generation cargo carriers, the 15th Airbase Wing couldn't change its name fast enough to the 15th "Airlift" Wing. [...]
It's the first time since the Vietnam War that an active-duty airlift squadron will be based at Hickam — and the Air Force excitement level already is somewhere in the stratosphere. [...]
The arrival of the first seven of the $200 million aircraft, one about every three weeks and the eighth expected in late September or early October, also is at the vanguard of a military buildup in Hawai'i that will include an Army Stryker Brigade, more ships and submarines — and someday could include an aircraft carrier.
Reflecting the shift of world trade to the Pacific and buildup of the region's militaries, the C-17s were championed by U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye, D-Hawai'i, as a way to transport the fast-response Stryker Brigade of about 300 eight-wheeled armored vehicles. Three of the 19-ton Strykers can be transported in a Globemaster III.
The C-17s are expected to be in high demand for a variety of state and federal missions because of their versatility, said 15th Airlift Wing Cmdr. Col. Bill "Goose" Changose, who also is the Hickam base commander.
"It's pretty exciting stuff," Changose said, "because although you may be scheduled to go from here to Okinawa, if all of a sudden a high-priority lift mission comes up, and the vice president is going to Singapore, or the secretary of state is going to stop in the Philippines, it's not uncommon to be diverted."
With a payload of 160,000 pounds, the C-17 can take off from a 7,600-foot airfield, fly 2,400 nautical miles and land on a small, austere airfield in 3,000 feet or less, according to Boeing.