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Delivering multi-role airlift capabilities to AOR

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Clinton Atkins
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
Southwest Asia --  The sun sinks fast into the desert horizon. Specks of light can be seen in the pitch black night at a distant forward operating base. From out of the hushed darkness, a massive jet rumbles onto the austere landing strip. Risking life and limb, the crew inside must unload the cargo quickly. Life sustaining supplies must be delivered to thousands more servicemembers elsewhere before the crew can call it a day. 

From airdropping provisions down range, moving troops to forward operating bases, transporting lifesaving medical supplies to medical treatment facilities, evacuating injured servicemembers and flying armored vehicles to austere locations, the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron here is one of the major lifelines in sustaining war efforts. 

"We provide combat airlift to the theaters of Iraq, Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa," said Lt. Col. Mike Mitchell, 816 EAS director of operations. "We are a strategic and tactical airlift asset meaning we combine the strategic long-range capability of the C-5 (Galaxy) and the tactical short-range capability of the C-130 (Hercules), capable of flying thousands of miles across oceans then landing on dirt strips in austere locales." 

As one of the busiest airlift squadrons in the Air Force, the 138-member unit has flown more than 2,200 sorties and more than 4,100 flying hours since Sept. 1. 

"You name it we carry it," said the colonel. "We carry tanks, (mine resistant ambush protected vehicles), (high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles), helicopters, medical supplies and so on." 

Using C-17 Globemaster IIIs - a multi-role aircraft capable of performing a variety of missions - the 816 EAS has supported the Global War on Terror by transporting more than 77 million pounds of cargo, 62,000 passengers and airdropping more than 2.4 million pounds of supplies in less than three months. 

"The majority of our missions are air-land missions," said Colonel Mitchell, deployed from Charleston Air Force Base, S.C. "We typically fly seven to nine missions per day and average one airdrop mission per day." 

The squadron also performed more than 13 aeromedical missions in a two-month span. 

"We perform aeromedical missions routinely in Iraq and Afghanistan to get people with combat injuries to appropriate medical facilities," said the Seaford, Del., native. "Providing airlift for the injured is one of the most important things we do out here." 

Like a multi-tool, the C-17 can change its configuration at a moment's notice allowing the aircraft to be re-tasked during a mission in case of an emergency. 

"Our tasking agency is the (Combined Air and Space Operations Center Air Mobility Division) cell through (the 618th Tanker Airlift Control Center) back at Scott Air Force Base, Ill.," he said. "They'll basically re-task a mission that is flying throughout the AOR and direct the crew to pick up and deliver critically injured patients to medical facilities outside the AOR." 

Tasking an aircraft in mid-air depends on which jet is closest to the wounded's location and how many flying hours that aircrew has left in their duty day, he said. We are typically limited to a 16-hour crew duty day but on occasion can go to 24-hours, he said. 

The 816 EAS boosts their mission effectiveness by flying with two loadmasters instead of one, which minimizes on and off loading time. 

"We can go from carrying 180 (detainees) to carrying an MRAP in 30 minutes with a quick reconfiguration of the floor," Colonel Mitchell said. 

In one mission, a C-17 will fly four or more sorties, which in Iraq are essentially short hops from base to base. 

"On some missions, the longest flight of the day will only be an hour long," said Colonel Mitchell. 

Additionally there are missions in the combat zone where the nature of the cargo or lack of security at an airfield poses a potential threat to the aircraft and crew. 

"On those types of missions we carry Ravens, who are specially trained Security Forces personnel, to ensure the security of the aircraft, crew and manifest," said Senior Airman Mike Solly, 816 EAS loadmaster, deployed from Charleston AFB. 

"We'll also carry a crew chief because in the austere locations we transit there aren't any means of fixing the aircraft," said the Asheville, N.C., native. "You never know what's going to happen out there." 

With ground personnel spread far and wide across the AOR, the quickest and most efficient means of receiving supplies is by airlift. 

"They need as much help as they can get and the C-17 allows us to do just that," Airman Solly said. 

The C-17's greatest asset is its flexibility to accommodate a wide variety of cargo, but it can be one of the aircrew's biggest challenges, said Master Sgt. Jeff Faretra, 816 EAS loadmaster and acting first sergeant. 

"If we're carrying 18 pallets, then carrying an MRAP, reconfiguring to 12 more pallets, and then going to a HMMWV, we'll have the entire crew downstairs configuring the airplane," said Sergeant Faretra, deployed from Charleston AFB and a native of Goose Creek, S.C. 

The crew is allotted only an hour and 15 minutes to download and upload cargo and to reconfigure the plane. It takes a team effort to keep these missions moving safely and on time, said Sergeant Faretra. 

"At most bases (in Southwest Asia), there is limited aircraft parking and other airplanes are coming in at all times so we have to do everything as quickly as possible," said Senior Airman Anthony Johnson, 816 EAS loadmaster deployed from Charleston AFB. 

"The pressure can get pretty intense," said the Columbus, Ga., native. "You have to find a way to get everything done, safely and expeditiously. If we're late to our next stop it starts a snowball effect. The jet behind us will be late and so on." 

Though their mission is demanding, the 816 EAS is well aware of their impact on the AOR. 

"A few years ago when the (improvised explosive devices) were becoming prevalent and we were losing a lot of guys on the convoys, they started using airlift more to move cargo throughout the AOR," Colonel Mitchell said. "Our role is huge now because we are taking convoys off of the road. We can carry about 170,000 pounds of cargo so you're basically taking all of those people and assets off of the road and putting them on an airplane and not exposing them to IEDs. In that regard, we have saved lives."