Former Air Force planes provided to DOJ

The Justice Department recently acquired three King Air 350 transport aircraft from the Defense Logistics Agency via federal property transfer. The planes were originally valued at $17 million apiece and will now be used by the U.S. Marshals Service.

Each year, DLA reutilizes, transfers or donates billions of dollars in used and excess Defense Department items via its major sub-command DLA Disposition Services. If the Marine Corps turns in a floating bridge to DLA's property disposal site in South Korea and then an Army battalion in Alabama requests the item, DLA will prioritize that reutilization within the Defense Department. If the Marines turn that same floating bridge over to the agency, but no other units in DOD claim it, the U.S. Forest Service could then request it via federal transfer to help tankers cross backcountry creeks when fighting wildfires. If DOD units don't need the item, and federal agencies don't want it, it can then be donated to state or local government entities and other qualifying donation customers.

According to the property disposal specialists who worked on the transfer, the former Air Force aircraft were previously deployed for surveillance purposes by the special operations community. While thousands of King Air turboprop planes are used for business travel around the world, several military variants have been produced, including extended range special mission versions that allow operators to conduct reconnaissance operations for more than seven hours before needing to return for refueling. The transferred aircraft are expected to augment the U.S. Marshals' air surveillance capabilities for vital missions like fugitive apprehension.

The U.S. Marshals Service is just one of many DLA property transfer customers filling a unique role. As the oldest law enforcement entity in the country, the organization serves as the enforcement arm of the federal courts. Their duties include "protecting the federal judiciary, apprehending federal fugitives, managing and selling seized assets acquired by criminals through illegal activities, housing and transporting federal prisoners and operating the Witness Security Program."