MESA, Ariz. - Defense Contract Management Agency Boeing Mesa Commander Army Lt. Col. Robert Rugg and Chief Warrant Officer 4 Dwayne Childers, government flight representative, flew the last AH-64D Apache Longbow block II helicopter to its new home with the Texas National Guard, Oct. 30, 2013.
“It’s an honor to fly this tremendous aircraft to its station,” said Rugg, who served as the co-pilot for the final flight. “The Apache Longbow has a special place in my heart. I guess I am a little sad to know that production chapter is closed. However, our Mesa-DCMA team is proud of the working relationship we have developed with our Boeing partners. We have a special team here and the Apache is a special aircraft. I offer my thanks to the entire Longbow team for a job well done.”
The contract management office marked the milestone with an organization photo featuring the last D-model Apache and the first E-model attack helicopter.
John Graham, DCMA Boeing Mesa Apache program integrator, said the team here has ensured delivery of the best quality attack helicopter to the warfighter while meeting or exceeding the program customer’s schedule.
“It’s been awesome supporting the production for the AH-64D Apache Longbow aircraft,” said Graham. “We’ve delivered 781 Apache AH-64D models to the U.S. Army and more than 260 AH-64Ds to various (Foreign Military Sales) customers. We’ve also worked directly with the Apache Program Office, Army and FMS customers for the induction of the AH-64A model aircraft and delivery of a new and remanufactured AH-64Ds.”
The delivery marks the end of a program that began testing in the late 1990s. The first AH-64D was delivered in 1997 and has served in many conflicts since. The model E replaces the model D and features numerous enhanced capabilities.