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‘Desert Foxes’: mission success no matter what

  • Published
  • By Capt. Suzanne VanderWeyst
  • 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  Completing missions, no matter what level of difficulty or how diverse it is, seems to be the mantra of the 737th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron here. From leaflet drops supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom, to cargo offloads supporting Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA), these "Desert Foxes" are dedicated to the end.

The commitment of the 737th EAS to get cargo supplies to coalition forces in HOA countries was shown in a recent mission to an east African country. There, an unusual tasking mandated the use of a difficult, unconventional unload method.

The tasking was a cargo delivery for a coalition air force; one of the necessary contributions to the overall mission of CJTF-HOA. Moving cargo is not unusual for the Desert Foxes, but this time the comforts of how they normally accomplish it weren't present.

Due to the length of the cargo in question, it was necessary to join or "marry" two pallets together to accommodate the load. Married pallets, with one notable exception, can only be handled by K-loaders--a type of material handling equipment (MHE). There was only a forklift at the destination airfield, however. The married pallets were over 15 feet long, far too long for the tines of a forklift.

The crew of "TORQE 05" would have to take advantage of that exception to offload the married pallets. That exception is a procedure known as Combat Offload Method B.

The crew had to lower the aircraft ramp and place two 55-gallon drums behind the aircraft. The married pallets were chained to the forklift to anchor the pallet. Very slowly, the crew taxied the aircraft forward, and the load was pulled over the ramp. Barrels were placed under the corners of each pallet as it came off the aircraft. This process took some time, since more barrels had to be positioned under the pallet as more pallets came off the aircraft.

"Our combat offload required eight barrels total," said Capt. Matt McMillan, mission aircraft commander. "One of the challenges we ran into was adding weight to the barrels for stability. Water is usually added to the barrels for this. We brought the barrels with us, but they were empty, so we had to find about 160 gallons of water from somewhere. When we arrived, we asked the coalition air force officials if their fire truck could fill the barrels with water. They were happy to oblige, and it worked very well."

Another challenge for the crew was overcoming the communication barrier between the loadmasters and the coalition load team.

"This is a delicate, synchronized, process with engines running, so clear and precise communication was critical to safe execution," said Staff Sgt. Eric Anderson, one of the mission loadmasters. "We briefed extensively before we started the offloaded. We carefully ran the checklists, and the offload was executed perfectly by both aircrew and the ground loading team."

This Method B offload is so rare, due to its risk and complicated execution, that loadmasters receiving the training are often told by their instructors that most trainees may never use it.

"I actually employed Combat Offload Method B procedures at a training exercise just about six months ago for the first time," said Staff Sgt. Pablo Herrera, a mission loadmaster with the 737th EAS. "It's great to employ a unique capability that I learned in training on a real world mission. I really felt great about what I did there."

The mission of CJTF-HOA is to conduct unified action with local military forces and government representatives in eastern Africa. The action prevents conflict, promotes regional stability and builds regional security capacity. CJTF-HOA also has civil affairs teams in the field that improve people's lives and decrease dependency on groups who are hostile to friendly governments and the U.S.

"Our part in this mission is to provide transportation of people and cargo to support the field teams in [HOA countries]," said Lt Col. Kalen Jeffers, 737th EAS director of operations. "Our aircrews spend four to six days staging out of Djibouti where HQ CJTF-HOA is located. We fly missions out and back from Djibouti. Sometimes we support the State Department in the region as well."

These missions are flown by C-130s from only two locations in the entire U.S. Central Command area of responsibility: one by the 737th EAS out of the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing, and the other out of the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing.

"The aircrews of the 737th have been providing outstanding support to the CJTF-HOA mission ever since I showed up in theater in early May," said Maj. John Schumate, CJTF-HOA Air Component Coordination Element operations officer. "They have supported movements all over Africa, to include Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and the Comoros Islands."

"The crew we had that week was supporting missions in all of [those] countries except Uganda, and they did great work."