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Maintainers “herculean” support keeps C-130s mission-ready

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Kia Atkins
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
The C-130 Hercules is a tactical airlift platform that provides air land delivery of cargo and supplies, cargo and personnel air drops and medevac mission capabilities. Given its capabilities, aircrews often land in locations not ideal for most aircraft.

Due to the robust nature of the Hercules' mission, operators here depend on an experienced team of maintainers in the 746th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Unit to keep the aircraft serviceable.

“We need to be able to generate aircraft so that aircrews are able to go out and support our troops at more forward deployed locations,” said Master Sgt. Timothy Barker, 746th EAMU hydraulics specialist deployed from the 130th Airlift Wing out of Charleston, W. Va. “We know the work we do on the C-130s support aircrews as they go out and do their missions, whether it's transporting cargo or personnel or performing aeromedical missions."

The current Hercules maintenance team is comprised of Air National Guard Units deployed from the 130th Airlift Wing out of Charleston, W. Va., and the 153rd Airlift Wing out of Cheyenne, Wyo. As a unit, they inspect, service and prepare aircraft for the mission of the day as delegated by the air tasking order and ensure the C-130s are mission capable by performing regular inspections and preventative and unscheduled maintenance actions.

“If something happens to a C-130, we can take care of it,” Barker said. “If a part breaks we turn it into supply and we get a new or refurbished part to take care of it to keep the mission going.”

Before each mission, maintainers from the 746th EAMU perform a preflight inspection inside and outside of the aircraft to ensure all systems are working in accordance with the job guides. Pre-flight inspections are good for up to 72 hours prior to the aircraft's scheduled departure.

“The processes we go through each day to maintain the aircraft allows us to give the aircrew the best possible product,” Baker said. “I love working on things, I love fixing things. It gives me a great sense of accomplishment to work on these aircraft. If the aircraft is broken and sitting on the ground, it’s not getting supplies to the warfighter, so knowing that I played a role in making sure the aircraft can be used for what it’s meant for really means a lot to me.”

After the C-130 returns from a mission, maintainers perform what is called a thru-flight inspection to make sure the aircraft is still fit to fly.
The meticulous inspections and quality maintenance performed by 746th EAMU maintainers ensure the aircrews are able to focus on their missions without the added stress of being concerned with the functionality of the aircraft.

“Our mission out here is to support the C-130 aircrews and to ensure they have the equipment they need to get their jobs accomplished,” said Senior Airman Aide Robles, 746th EAMU material management deployed from the 153rd Airlift Wing out of Cheyenne, Wyo. “Without the support that we provide lives could be at risk. It is important the maintenance is done correctly because if it isn’t not only could the aircrews lives be in danger, but also the people the C-130 mission supports.”

The 746th EAMU is also able to provide maintenance on C-130s on-route to other locations in the U.S. Central Command area of operations and, as necessary, assist maintenance recovery teams for downed aircraft off-station.

The teamwork that occurs isn’t just within the 746th EAMU, it occurs throughout the 379th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, other organizations within the 379th Maintenance Group, and with our Operations counterparts in the Airlift Squadron, said Maj. Carl Johansen, 746th EAMU officer in charge.

“All the maintenance units on this base help each other daily,” Johansen said. “For example, we recently assisted the 9th EAMU by airlifting members of their Maintenance Recovery Team, an engine, and equipment in order for them to recover an aircraft that had an In-Flight Emergency at another airfield. The maintenance provided on the C-130 allows the crews to accomplish their mission, which in turn, helps the warfighter accomplish their mission.”