No milk stool, no mission: ECES Airman makes it happen

Published March 27, 2013
By Senior Airman Joel Mease
379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Most Airmen would never know a few blocks of wood, commonly known as a milk stool in the C-130 community, can be all that stands in the way of a C-130 being able to perform its mission.

Those blocks of wood are officially called "ramp support," and they must be used when cargo weighing more than 2,000 lbs. is placed onto aircraft. So when the 746th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron arrived at the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing, they quickly ran into a problem when two of their aircraft's ramp supports were in poor shape.

"The milk stools can go through a lot of abuse," said Chief Master Sgt. Michael E. Harper, a loadmaster with the 746th EAS. "We repaired them the best we could, but we would need new ones to replace them."

However, no one in the 379th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron had experience making a ramp support before. So when Senior Airman Horace Hand was given the project, he had to build a ramp support when he didn't even know what it did.

"I really had no idea what it was going to be used for. I had asked and they said it was going on an airplane," said Horace, a structural apprentice with the 379th ECES. "It wasn't until the chief came out and asked if I wanted to see what my work was used for that I realized just how important it was."

The squadron wasn't just pleased with his work, they were impressed.

"Airman Hand did a lot of things we normally don't see," Harper said. "He was able to make it lighter without taking away any strength from the support. A normal milk stool is going to weigh around 85 lbs. and the two he built were around 65 lbs."

While going from 85 lbs. to 65 lbs. may not sound a lot, it means a lot to the crew in the back of the C-130 who have to lift that added weight, Harper said.

"When we forward deploy, you have a flak vest on plus the added weight of the helmet," Harper said. "Those 20 pounds can really make a difference."

Airman Hand was more than happy to get the opportunity to see the fruits of his labor in an operational setting.

"I thought it was awesome," Hand said. "I normally go fix things and don't really realize what it does or why it's important. I would've never guessed what I made was going to make it possible for the mission to continue."

The squadron's appreciation even reached its commander, who gave a coin for the chief to give to the young Airman. He didn't just make us more effective, he prevented the mission from failing, the chief said.

"It would've been a mission show stopper for us on what kind of cargo we can carry (if he didn't make it)," Harper said. "You think with even all the new technology and new airplanes, you still got to use the same old milk stool."