Photo By Scott Sturkol | Staff Sgt. Norterious Jenkins, C-5 Galaxy loadmaster, works in a C-5M Super Galaxy,...... read more read more
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DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. - Staff Sgt. Norterious Jenkins, C-5M Super Galaxy loadmaster with the 9th Airlift Squadron, 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 and 6, was aboard a C-5M 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.
Jenkins, a native of Columbia, S.C., said the mission was “not something you do every day.”
“This will be something that will be remembered for a long time and I was glad to be a part of the team that did it,” said Jenkins, who is also an eight-year veteran of the Air Force.
On the mission, Jenkins was one of three loadmasters on the C-5M. In his time as a loadmaster over the last two years, he said he has become quite familiar with the deployed areas.
“Over that time I’ve passed more than 1,000 flying hours and been on about 50 airlift sorties to the deployed area of responsibility,” Jenkins said. “The Arctic flight was definitely my longest mission to date – the previous was 12 hour – but what matters is we were able to deliver another 78,000 pounds of cargo for the deployed warfighter.”
To do their job on the Air Force’s largest airlift airframe, loadmasters like Jenkins have to maintain a multitude of skills and abilities. According to his official Air Force job description for the 1A2X1 career field, loadmasters accomplish loading and off-loading aircraft functions and perform pre-flight and post-flight of aircraft and aircraft systems.
Loadmasters like Jenkins 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 Jenkins 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 love my job,” said Jenkins, whose previous career field was survival equipment. “I’ve learned in my career to appreciate every opportunity and being a loadmaster provides many, many opportunities.”
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.
“Some day we will read about this mission,” Jenkins said. “It’s history made, but there is more to be done.”
| Date Taken: | 06.05.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 06.29.2011 10:49 |
| Story ID: | 72948 |
| Location: | DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, DE, US |
| Web Views: | 79 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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