Photo By Scott Sturkol | Ice-covered areas are seen from above the Arctic Circle from the window of a C-5M...... read more read more
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DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- Staff Sgt. Tramainn McKee, C-5M Galaxy loadmaster with the 9th Airlift Squadron here, was one of 14 crew members who flew on a mission that was the Air Force’s first direct delivery airlift mission through the Arctic Circle from the United States to Afghanistan.
The flight, which took place, June 5-6, 2011, was aboard a C-5M Super Galaxy from Dover Air Force Base, Del., to Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan. The flight was the first time a U.S. Air Force plane flew this northern route from the U.S., over Canada and into the Arctic Circle, then back down through Russian and Kazakhstan airspace to Afghanistan.
U.S. Transportation Command and Air Mobility Command officials at Scott AFB, Ill., said the mission was a “proof of concept” flight that will help establish future sustainment operations in Afghanistan. AMC's 618th Tanker Airlift Control Center planners at Scott AFB tasked and built the mission plans for the effort. It is part of TACC’s continuing effort to support and control airlift and air refueling missions around the globe.
To make the entire 15-plus hour flight to Afghanistan, the C-5M was refueled by a KC-135R Stratotanker from the New Hampshire Air National Guard’s 157th Air Refueling Wing and Pease Air National Guard Base. The refueling took place over Northern Canada.
McKee, a native of West Chester, Pa., said he was proud to be a part of making Air Force history with the flight.
“It was a great opportunity to do something few other loadmasters will ever get to do,” said McKee, an eight-year veteran of the Air Force.
On the mission, McKee was one of three loadmasters on the C-5M. To do their job on the Air Force’s largest airlift airframe, they have to maintain a multitude of skills and abilities. According to his official Air Force job description for the 1A2X1 career field, loadmasters like Mallory accomplish loading and off-loading aircraft functions and perform pre-flight and post-flight of aircraft and aircraft systems.
Loadmasters like McKee also perform aircrew functions, compute weight and balance and other mission specific qualification duties, and provide for safety and comfort of passengers and troops, and security of cargo, mail and baggage during flight, the job description states.
Loadmasters are also skilled in a variety of abilities. For example, in determining quantity of cargo and passengers or troops to be loaded and proper placement in aircraft, loadmasters compute load and cargo distribution. They also compute weight and balance, and determine the amount of weight to be placed in each compartment or at each station. To do this they consider factors such as fuel load, aircraft structural limits and emergency equipment required.
In the deployed environment, loadmasters like McKee are trained to conduct cargo and personnel airdrops according to directives. They are trained to attach extraction parachutes to cargo and platforms and inspect cargo and platforms, extraction systems and connect static lines. They also check tie-downs, parachutes, containers, suspension systems and extraction systems to ensure proper cargo extraction or release.
To do their job while deployed or at home station, loadmasters have to maintain a wide array of mandatory job knowledge, the job description states. They must know the types, capacities and configuration of transport aircraft, emergency equipment and in-flight emergency procedures, personal equipment and oxygen use, communications, current flying directives, interpreting diagrams, loading charts and technical publications, border agency clearance dispensing and preserving food aboard aircraft, and cargo restraint techniques.
“I’ve been a loadmaster for just over two years now,” McKee said. “It’s a great experience because you get to go to different parts of the world, and at times, make history.”
AMC officials said the historic Arctic flight was made possible by close diplomatic cooperation and culminates months of operational planning. It further illustrates the military’s commitment to finding innovative new ways to operate with increasingly constrained resources. USTRANSCOM planners said this flight is just the beginning of understanding new ways to strengthen the northern corridor for direct delivery missions to the deployed theater.
| Date Taken: | 06.06.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 06.29.2011 10:10 |
| Story ID: | 72945 |
| Location: | DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, DE, US |
| Web Views: | 82 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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