Des Moines native deploys, keeps ground troops supplied from sky

News: Des Moines native deploys, keeps ground troops supplied from sky

U.S. Air Forces Central Public Affairs

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Story by Staff Sgt. Sara Csurilla Follow This Journalist

Staff Sgt. Sara Csurilla

Capt. Shane O'Neill, a C-17 Globemaster III pilot with the 817th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, stands in front of a C-17 after an airdrop mission Jan. 27, 2012.

SOUTHWEST ASIA – Capt. Shane O’Neill, a C-17 Globemaster III pilot with the 817th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, recently deployed to an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia from the 7th Airlift Squadron out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

O’Neill, a native of Des Moines, Iowa, deployed to the 817th EAS, a C-17 flying squadron, and joined a group of airmen ranging in specialties from loadmasters, to navigators to fellow pilots. These airmen are what keeps this highly functional squadron operating.

They work as a team flying thousands of miles to perform an array of missions around their assigned area of responsibility.

Equipped with C-17s, the 817th EAS transport and support coalition forces engaging in combat operations as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, and they also operate in the Horn of Africa.

The squadron’s mission is to provide strategic airlift, airdrop, aeromedical evacuation and humanitarian relief, to create an air bridge for personnel, equipment and supplies throughout the area of responsibility.

O’Neill and members of his team fly missions several times a week, but some of them like certain missions more than others.

“My favorite part of my mission while deployed is the airdrops,” said O’Neill. “It’s exciting, challenging and has the most direct interaction with ground forces from the sky. I’ve been enjoying this deployment because we get to employ all the tactics that we train for while we’re home.”

An airdrop mission consists of loading supplies like food and fuel onto a plane and then once airborne, releasing it from the back of the aircraft over remote forward operating bases in the area of responsibility. The supplies are packaged into separate pallets and adorned with a parachute. As the pallet falls from the aircraft, the parachute is released and able to land safely in its projected location. Once on the ground, local coalition forces will recover the supplies on the ground.

This is O’Neill’s sixth deployment and he has been serving in the U.S. Air Force for eight years.