Looking back on one year: Expeditionary airlifters fly ‘air convoys’ in GWOT

Published June 11, 2007
By Capt. Teresa Sullivan
379th Air Expeditionary Wing

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Over the past year the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron has carried the load for the Global War on Terrorism transporting the equivalent of the population of Colorado Springs, each person carrying a million pounds, flying to the Middle East and back 700 times.

To say they've been busy supporting the war effort would be an understatement. The 816th EAS, a tenant unit of the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing reached their one year anniversary mark and took a moment to look back on what they've done.

"When you're focused on the mission day in and day out you don't always take the time to look back on all that you've done and the impact you've made," said Lt. Col. Paul Eberhart, 816th EAS commander. "Every day we try to make improvements. We've come a long way over the past year and have made monumental strides."

The 816th EAS has flown about 370,000 passengers, 370 million pounds of cargo on about 80,000 pallets in about 20,000 hours of flying - all of this in direct support of the Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines on the ground in Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom. For every airlift sortie of the more than 13,000 flown over the past year, there were less convoys out in harm's way as a result.

"We're in the business of flying air convoys," said Colonel Eberhart, a Baldwin City, Kan., native deployed here from Charleston AFB, S.C. "What we do not only gets people and cargo to the right place at the right time, but it also reduces the amount of convoys and the threat for our ground forces in Iraq and Afghanistan - saving the lives of the people on the road."

The squadron credits new processes and great continuity for their successes in the area of operations. During the past year, four out of four squadrons filling the role for the expeditionary airlift team came from Charleston AFB.

"The 816th was officially stood up here in June 2006 and each of the four squadrons came from Charleston AFB, commanded by the four sitting squadron commanders there," said Colonel Eberhart. "It helps that the four of us came from the same place, but even more interesting is the fact that we were all captains together. We've grown up in this business together."

The commanders over the past year included Lt. Col. Lenny Richoux, 17th Airlift Squadron commander, Lt. Col. Ricky Rupp, 14th Airlift Squadron commander, Lt. Col. Dale Anderson, 15th Airlift Squadron commander and now Colonel Eberhart. Each commander brought their entire squadron here from home station for the 120-day tour allowing them to "fight the way they train" - and with the same personnel and leadership.

"The way we deploy now, as a squadron, with the predictability of the 120-day cycles, promotes a great quality of life for us," said Colonel Eberhart. "Since we've trained together as a team, we're able to accomplish more when we get here with less fatigue related and continuity issues. It also provides a more stable home life."

One intangible accomplishment the four commanders share is the high morale of the squadron. Now the men and women of the 816th EAS will wear their new Air Force-approved patch, with roots dating as far back as 1944 when the 816th was an aerial bombardment squadron. The patch, light blue with a yellow-winged skeleton in a red robe hurling a blue aerial bomb, then signified the intent of the bombardment squadron's mission of dropping bombs on target and now signifies their current mission of delivering beans, bullets and troops to the fight. The squadron will be wearing the expeditionary subdued version on their flight suits with pride, said the colonel.

"Our C-17 Globemaster III roots go back to the 1940's and to historical operations such as the Berlin Airlift. We have an Air Force lineage that we're proud of and the patch allows us to embrace our history here at the 816th.

The 816th EAS has not only been equipped to support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, but they've also been charged with responding to other world events over the past 365 days.

"As part of our flexibility and global reach, we not only support OIF and OEF, but can be called upon to respond in other areas, such as humanitarian missions, natural disasters or other contingencies worldwide," said Colonel Eberhart.

The squadron did just that when they were called upon to fulfill a short-notice tasking to deliver ammunition to the Lebanese Armed Forces in Beirut in late May. They delivered hundreds of pallets of cargo to assist another country in need, while seamlessly supporting operations over Iraq, Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa, said the colonel.

The C-17 Globemaster III and its supporting cast of the 816th EAS will continue to keep their noses to the grindstone for the GWOT providing strategic airlift on demand 24 hours a day, seven days a week until they're told otherwise.

"We can take cargo where commercial carriers can't go, we can deliver people and supplies with pinpoint precision to people who need them, and we'll continue to do whatever it is we can do to support national objectives," said the colonel. "This year has come and gone quickly, but what the men and women serving in the 816th can always carry with them is the fact that they've made a difference in this war on terrorism. They've done it with honor and in the same air mobility tradition that General William Tunner would have been proud to witness."