La Vista, Neb. -- A ground-breaking ceremony for a high fidelity, full motion E-4B simulator took place here Dec. 22, 2020.
The $16 million simulator is the first of its kind for the 595th Command & Control Group's E-4B fleet and being constructed by CymSTAR, LLC.
"It’s going to be a huge deal for us," said. Col. Brian Golden, 595th C2G commander.
Currently, E-4B crews either travel out of state to use a commercial 747 simulator, which doesn't completely replicate the E-4B cockpit, or the unit pulls an aircraft from operations to train on.
"It’s going to save us millions and millions of dollars a year," Golden said.
One of the perks of the new simulator will be its ability to offer day and night air refueling training. This is one of the toughest training for E-4B crews to maintain currency on due to limited tanker training availability.
“CymSTAR is proud to be have been entrusted to provide this critical national training capability,” said Dan Marticello, CymSTAR president and CEO. “We are pleased to join the local community in serving Offutt and optimizing mission readiness for E-4B aircrews.”
The E-4B simulator is expected to be ready for use by the unit in the spring of 2022.
“The new facility is representative of community collaboration and innovation,” said La Vista Mayor, Doug Kindig. “It will be a modern technological addition to La Vista, where we are proud to support the mission of Offutt Air Force Base.”