Migration
Yokota maintainers get new leader as base transitions to Super Hercs
Stars and Stripes
June 23, 2017
A C-130J Super Hercules cargo plane sits at Yokota Air Base, Japan, Friday, June 23, 2017. (Allen Onstott/Stars and Stripes)
A C-130J Super Hercules cargo plane sits at Yokota Air Base, Japan, Friday, June 23, 2017. (Allen Onstott/Stars and Stripes)
Col. Sean Robertson, right, commander of the 374th Maintenance Group, passes the guidon to Maj. David Mueller, incoming commander of the 374th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, during an assumption of command ceremony at Yokota Air Base, Japan, Friday, June 23, 2017. (Leon Cook/Stars and Stripes)
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Maj. David Mueller has assumed command of Yokota’s 374th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron as the base’s aging fleet of C-130H cargo planes are replaced by newer J models.
Mueller took over for Lt. Col. Brian Waller, who deployed to Kuwait in April for an assignment with U.S. Central Command, during a ceremony Friday at the air base in western Tokyo.
Mueller, a recent graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, has served in a variety of positions and locations since joining the Air Force in 2005. He recently commanded the 727th Special Operations Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M.
Yokota got its first C-130J Super Hercules in March and will have 14 by year’s end. The Super Herc needs two fewer crewmembers thanks to automated navigation and engineering systems, and its new Rolls Royce engines provide more power, fuel efficiency and range.
The old planes are being sent to Air National Guard units in the states.