Mazick delivers latest C-17 to Joint Base Charleston Published Oct. 25, 2010 By Lt. Col. Bill Walsh 315th Airlift Wing Public Affairs JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Joint Base Charleston received its newest C-17 Globemaster cargo airlifter Oct. 23, compliments of Maj. Gen. Martin M. Mazick, Air Force Reserve Command vice commander, who flew the aircraft in from California. General Mazick presented symbolic keys to the newst airlifter to joint the Air Force fleet to Col. Steve Champan, 315th AW commander. General Mazick and a crew from the 300th Airlift Squadron took delivery of the Air Force's 204th C-17 at the Boeing Aircraft plant in Long Beach, Calif., before flying it to South Carolina where it became the 57th Globemaster assigned to Joint Base Charleston. "This is an amazing airplane and a critical mobility asset for our country as we go forward," said General Mazick as he and copilot Major Mark LaVerne flew the jet to its new home. "Global mobility is our business and no one does it better than the people who fly these jets." Before leaving the Boeing aircraft plant, General Mazick and the crew toured the facility and thanked the hundreds of workers who produce the planes. "Thank you for all you do," said Capt. Forest Aspinwall of the 300th Airlift Squadron as he talked with a plant worker putting together the wings of C-17 under construction. "This is an amazing airplane you're building." The C-17 provides rapid global mobility for the United States and can carry more than 250,000 pounds of cargo anywhere in the world. Each aircraft has 29,132 parts, 1.3 million fasteners and 120 miles of cable. The planes can land and take off on short or unimproved fields and provides a tactical advantage in airlift capability. "It takes us 213 days to produce one C-17," said Brain Casey, supervisor at the Boeing plant. "After the building process is complete, it takes eight days to paint the aircraft then 23 days on the ramp before the first flight to check out all systems." General Mazick was greeted planeside by members of Joint Base Charleston including Col. Martha Meeker, 628th Air Base Wing commander, and Col. John Wood, 437th Airlift Wing commander, as he taxied the new jet to its parking spot. The flight was doubly special for General Mazick because it was his last flight as an Air Force pilot before he retires later this year. "This is my last flight and is very special for me," said the general as he spoke with members of the media on hand for the arrival ceremony. "When they called me a few months ago and asked if I would deliver this new jet, I said absolutely."