WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE — Members of the 445th Airlift Wing will begin training Thursday on a C-17 transport plane, to prepare for Wright-Patterson’s gradual transition to C-17s to replace the older C-5 Galaxy aircraft.

The C-17 to be used Thursday is on loan from Joint Base Charleston, S.C., said Lt. Col. Cynthia Harris, spokeswoman for the 445th Airlift Wing, the Air Force Reserve unit that flies the C-5 Galaxies assigned to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The aircraft is to be reassigned to Wright-Patterson at a date to be determined, Harris said.

An additional aircraft is to arrive in February for training, she said.

The Air Force announced last year that it would retire Wright-Patterson’s 10 C-5 aircraft this year and in 2012 and replace them with eight newer C-17s. Pilots from Wright-Patterson regularly fly cargo flights aboard the C-5s to Europe to deliver supplies and war materiel in support of the U.S. war on terror.