They were supposed to go to the Air National Guard, and be use for in-theater cargo transport. The wind down in Iraq killed them off, so they’re going to be sold to either Iraq or Afghanistan, or both.
They have a cockpit almost identical to the C-130J, and use the same engines and props from the C-130J (hence the C-27J name.) They were developed by Alenia Aeronautica and Lockheed Martin, then LockMart backed out of the deal, so Alenia partnered with L3 Communications as the U.S. partner.
Originally, the U.S. Army was going to purchase and operate the C-27J for their own in-theater cargo delivery, but the USAF put up such a stink that the JCA was given to the USAF. Then the USAF turns around and dumps the entire project.
Awesome aircraft and yet another bonehead move by my beloved USAF to ditch them.