{"id":52313,"date":"2021-05-19T18:01:07","date_gmt":"2021-05-19T18:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/05\/19\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:46:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:46:20","slug":"transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2021\/05\/19\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\/","title":{"rendered":"TRANSCOM head gives thumbs up for US Air Force to begin divesting KC-135s"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 The head of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2020\/02\/25\/air-force-mulls-halt-to-tanker-retirements\/\" target=\"_blank\">U.S. Transportation Command<\/a> signaled Tuesday he is ready to support Air Force plans to start retiring some KC-135 aerial refueling tankers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last year, after the Air Force <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2020\/12\/04\/the-air-force-wanted-to-mothball-more-than-100-planes-in-its-inventory-heres-what-congress-says-it-will-permit\/\" target=\"_blank\">requested the authority to retire 13 KC-135s <\/a>in fiscal 2021, TRANSCOM commander Gen. Stephen Lyons pushed back, arguing that retiring the legacy tankers without an operational KC-46 would exacerbate the existing tanker shortfall to high levels of risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the outlook has changed for the better over the last year, Lyons told lawmakers during a hearing with the House Armed Services Committee\u2019s Readiness Subcommittee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think we\u2019re in a very good place, and I do think that it\u2019s a good idea to allow the Air Force to retire the KC-135s that they\u2019ve requested to retire,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lyons pointed to \u201cincredible work\u201d done by the Air Force to come to an agreement with Boeing on a path forward for fixing the KC-46 \u2014 the service\u2019s newest tanker, which was first delivered in 2019 and has been afflicted with numerous technical deficiencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2020, the service and Boeing solidified a plan for the company to develop<a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/breaking-news\/2020\/04\/02\/done-deal-boeing-will-have-to-rip-and-replace-kc-46-sensor-and-camera-systems-on-its-own-dime\/\" target=\"_blank\"> a new remote vision system<\/a> for the aircraft and begin integrating it in FY23. Until then, the company will roll out several interim fixes that will allow TRANSCOM to use the KC-46 for limited operations, Lyons said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The service also made adjustments to its retirement schedule for the KC-10, retaining some that were planned for retirement, he said. \u201cThat combined has put us in a good position.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the FY21 defense authorization bill, Congress <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2020\/06\/19\/house-to-block-kc-135-retirements-for-three-years-but-some-b-1-bombers-could-be-headed-for-the-boneyard\/\" target=\"_blank\">prohibited the Air Force<\/a> from retiring any of its 398 KC-135s until after FY23. Instead, lawmakers stipulated that the service could retire 30 KC-10s during that time period, starting with six tankers in FY21.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, Lyons\u2019 statements could open the door for Congress to ease statutory restrictions on KC-135 divestments. That, in turn, could allow the Air Force to retire some of its KC-135 fleet as part of the FY22 budget, set to be released May 27.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In February, Air Mobility Command chief Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost announced that the Air Force would begin offering KC-46 aircraft to TRANSCOM <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/smr\/air-force-priorities\/2021\/02\/24\/despite-growing-pains-the-kc-46-will-begin-limited-operations-soon\/\" target=\"_blank\">for certain limited missions sets<\/a>, such as taking part in exercises or escorting fighter jets traveling long distances either stateside or overseas. TRANSCOM has said such operations could start as early as June.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I think we&#8217;re in a very good place,&#8221; Gen. Stephen Lyons told lawmakers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":10605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":7,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["your-military","news","left-column","home"],"primary_category":"your-military"},"4":{"categories":["your-air-force","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","left-column","home"],"primary_category":"your-air-force"}}},"categories":[7,8,160,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3384],"class_list":["post-52313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air","category-congress","category-daily-news-roundup","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"FBNUD7AP2BDK7HZSSNTVSY3DLQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/air\/2021\/05\/19\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>TRANSCOM head gives thumbs up for US Air Force to begin divesting KC-135s - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"&quot;I think we&#039;re in a very good place,&quot; Gen. Stephen Lyons told lawmakers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TRANSCOM head gives thumbs up for US Air Force to begin divesting KC-135s\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&quot;I think we&#039;re in a very good place,&quot; Gen. Stephen Lyons told lawmakers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2021\/05\/19\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-19T18:01:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T23:46:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Valerie Insinna\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Valerie Insinna\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/19\\\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/19\\\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"TRANSCOM head gives thumbs up for US Air Force to begin divesting KC-135s\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2021-05-19T18:01:07+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-07T23:46:20+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/19\\\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 408,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/19\\\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/200213-Z-ZD325-9039.JPG.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Air Warfare\",\n\t                \"Congress\",\n\t                \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t                \"Newsletters\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/19\\\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/19\\\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/19\\\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"TRANSCOM head gives thumbs up for US Air Force to begin divesting KC-135s - Defense News\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/19\\\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/19\\\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/200213-Z-ZD325-9039.JPG.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2021-05-19T18:01:07+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-07T23:46:20+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"\\\"I think we're in a very good place,\\\" Gen. Stephen Lyons told lawmakers.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/19\\\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/19\\\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/19\\\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/200213-Z-ZD325-9039.JPG.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/200213-Z-ZD325-9039.JPG.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/19\\\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Air Warfare\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"air\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"TRANSCOM head gives thumbs up for US Air Force to begin divesting KC-135s\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Defense News\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"TRANSCOM head gives thumbs up for US Air Force to begin divesting KC-135s - Defense News","description":"\"I think we're in a very good place,\" Gen. Stephen Lyons told lawmakers.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"TRANSCOM head gives thumbs up for US Air Force to begin divesting KC-135s","og_description":"\"I think we're in a very good place,\" Gen. Stephen Lyons told lawmakers.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2021\/05\/19\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\/","og_site_name":"Defense News","article_published_time":"2021-05-19T18:01:07+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-07T23:46:20+00:00","author":"Valerie Insinna","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Valerie Insinna","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2021\/05\/19\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2021\/05\/19\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"TRANSCOM head gives thumbs up for US Air Force to begin divesting KC-135s","datePublished":"2021-05-19T18:01:07+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-07T23:46:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2021\/05\/19\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\/"},"wordCount":408,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2021\/05\/19\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/200213-Z-ZD325-9039.JPG.jpg","articleSection":["Air Warfare","Congress","Daily News Roundup","Newsletters"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2021\/05\/19\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2021\/05\/19\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2021\/05\/19\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\/","name":"TRANSCOM head gives thumbs up for US Air Force to begin divesting KC-135s - Defense News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2021\/05\/19\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2021\/05\/19\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/200213-Z-ZD325-9039.JPG.jpg","datePublished":"2021-05-19T18:01:07+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-07T23:46:20+00:00","description":"\"I think we're in a very good place,\" Gen. Stephen Lyons told lawmakers.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2021\/05\/19\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2021\/05\/19\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2021\/05\/19\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/200213-Z-ZD325-9039.JPG.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/200213-Z-ZD325-9039.JPG.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2021\/05\/19\/transcom-head-gives-a-thumbs-up-for-air-force-to-begin-divesting-kc-135s\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Air Warfare","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/","ad_zone":"air"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"TRANSCOM head gives thumbs up for US Air Force to begin divesting KC-135s"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","name":"Defense News","description":"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization","name":"Defense News","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","caption":"Defense News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Defense News","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews","push-errors":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/200213-Z-ZD325-9039.JPG.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52313"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52318,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52313\/revisions\/52318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52313"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=52313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}