Photo By 1st Lt. Anna Doo | Eighteen days, 18 time zones, and 64 flight hours later, the two pilot crew of the New...... read more read more
SANTA FE, N.M. – Eighteen days, 18 time zones, and 64 flight hours later, the two pilot crew of the New Mexico Army National Guard’s Detachment 44 Operational Support Airlift successfully completed the mission of delivering a fresh Beech Craft King Air C-12V Block II fixed wing aircraft to the warfight and flying one back to the states that had been in use for the maximum five years allowed. Chief Warrant Officer 5 Paul Marquez and Chief Warrant Officer 4 Kenneth Darlington began their journey here, delivered the aircraft to Kuwait and returned a used one to undergo required maintenance and upkeep to Fort Worth, Texas.
“These aircraft are used to transport people into the warfight as opposed to using ground convoy,” said Marquez. “With a global war on terror, you need aircraft and units capable of getting men and equipment into remote and dangerous areas of the Middle East quickly and with minimal exposure to hostile fire. The C-12 maintains a low profile, high altitude, and high speed capability to move personnel and equipment into and out of dangerous areas with minimal exposure to hostile ground environments.”
Marquez said while he and Darlington flew the airplanes to and from Kuwait, there was more than two months of planning that went into the actual mission and immeasurable hours spent working to be awarded the mission in the first place. He said without the noncommissioned officers in the Det. 44 putting an enormous amount of effort into the mission and the warrant officers supporting as well, the mission may not have been successful. Staff Sgt. Robert Bernal coordinated all of the required ground clearance, CW 2 Brian Philipbar managed the air clearances, CW 4 Guy Gleason took care of maintenance, and Sgt. 1st Class Manuel Lucero ensured the financial piece of the puzzle fit without a snag.
“That’s why this detachment is such a great operation. We had Lucero working the [Defense Travel System] and it’s probably a world record DTS. If you can find a longer one you let me know,” Marquez remarked. “If it weren’t for his tireless efforts to make sure we get the DTS done right we might be in huge financial debt right now. We had to make adjustments to the original authorization, go through three different commands to get it done right, and he did an outstanding job of making sure we got the DTS done right and completed correctly.”
Even with all of the detailed, meticulous planning, the mission was not without hiccups. But all of the planning, said Marquez, was necessary in order to be able to shift and be flexible when unforeseen issues did arise. For instance, the original aircraft that was to be flown to Kuwait was not fully mission capable. The next aircraft scheduled to be transported to the theater was ready so the adjustment was made to take it instead of the first. The maintenance on the first aircraft was completed and then began its journey August 1, 2016, under the piloting of Philipbar and Gleason.
“The scope of the mission is necessary on many fronts,” said Bernal. “We cannot have our aviators flying aircraft overseas that are not fully mission capable. We need to constantly rotate and refresh the military's aircraft to ensure that our pilots have the very best equipment possible at their disposal in order to accomplish the mission. There is a tremendous amount of work that goes into ferrying an aircraft to Kuwait and it is all worth it, from the ground side to the aircraft side.”
Two missions of this ilk being awarded to one unit is unprecedented. Marquez said that it is due to the proven capabilities and professionalism of the Soldiers as well as the fact that Det. 44 has had the most modern airframes for decades. The legacy of the unit and upkeep of the equipment, coupled with the leadership’s efforts of looking for challenging missions led to the unit being entrusted with these two overseas transportation assignments.
“All the background planning is really what makes this mission happen and that was through the efforts of Bernal and Philipbar, it was a team effort to make this mission happen,” said Marquez. “This is the biggest mission this unit has done and I would challenge anyone to show me a mission that’s gone further and lasted longer for one single mission set for New Mexico Army National Guard Aviation.”
Marquez and Darlington began their 18 day journey in Santa Fe, N.M., refueled in Milwaukee, Wisc., and then on to Quebec City, Canada, for the night after logging eight hours of flight. Due to the whole mission being pushed off its original schedule, the crew hit a snag the next day with a planned fuel stop in Sondre Stromfjord, Kangerlussauq, Greenland. The new arrival date fell directly on a national holiday for the Summer Equinox which would have incurred additional landing fees. Therefore the crew staged in Goose Bay, Canada, for an extra night of crew rest then on to Greenland.
Their next landing was in Keflavik, Iceland, and Marquez saying flying over the glaciers in Greenland and the rugged, weather-heavy terrain of Iceland was beautiful and challenging. He said they had to use their instruments to fly and land in Iceland as the weather report they had received was inaccurate due to the coastal environment of the northern airport. The experience of the pilots allowed them to easily react to this changing situation. Then on to Prestwick, Scotland, where they were held up due to weather. Scotland marked the sixth time zone they had arrived in.
Darlington and Marquez arrived in Wiesbaden, Germany, and were able to enjoy a full 24 hours of rest while the aircraft underwent routine maintenance. The next day they headed to Brindisi, Italy, and encountered a bit of trouble with a language barrier and lack of stamps in their passports but were able to smooth out the situation. When flying relatively unmarked military aircraft to a mixture of public, private and military airports, a passport stamp is not on the top of the list of priorities at each stop.
From Italy, the crew headed to the U.S. Naval Support Activity, Souda Bay on Crete, Greece, conducting their final 24 hour stop and planning for the last leg of the journey into Kuwait. This leg included flying over multiple Middle Eastern countries where the approval for airspace clearances had yet to be granted. They worked hard to obtain these clearances enlisting the help of the Israeli aviation officer who informed Marquez that the call signs written on the paperwork were in fact for the original aircraft and not the one being flown across the globe. Working together they were able to clear up the detail and were awarded all country clearances and flew to Amman, Jordan, then through Saudi Arabia, southern Iraq and on to the final destination of Ali Al Salem, Kuwait.
Marquez said, “It was pretty interesting flying there because that was where we were most concerned air-space wise, because there is a lot of activity in that area. All the planning came together and we were able to get all the way through. It was challenging to get into Amman because of the language barriers with [air traffic control], the weather and the location. That airfield is down in a bowl, right in the middle of the city and there are a lot of wind currents there. It was an interesting landing and then getting fuel was challenging.”
“We had to fuel ourselves,” he added. “We don’t have a crew chief or anybody else, so when we get done flying, we get out and put on all the protective equipment and go fuel the aircraft in about 110 degree heat. When we proceeded on, we immediately jumped right into a massive sandstorm, and we were basically IMC [instrument meteorological conditions] from Amman all the way to Ali Al Salem in a dust storm.”
They managed to arrive safely in Kuwait where the aircraft they’d be returning to the maintenance depot in Texas was awaiting the pilots. After some much-needed rest, they were once again on their way back around the globe to bring that airframe back for some heavy maintenance. The route back was essentially the same with more opportunity to view the glacial landscape of southern Greenland than they enjoyed on the way over.
Marquez said beginning the return journey at about 120 degrees Fahrenheit with dust storms swirling around, then dipping down to about 60 degrees over rainy, moisture-laden Edinburgh caused the airplane’s avionics to go haywire. The experience of the pilots allowed them to control the aircraft until it reset to the new environment. This extreme change in environment occurred multiple times throughout the journey.
Upon arrival in Texas, the crew was met by Philipbar and CW 2 Jose Moreno from Det 44 to transport the travel-weary team back to Santa Fe, N.M., completing the mission.
“The mission was an overall success for our unit,” said Bernal. “It is a necessary mission that needs to be done and with the dedicated members of the C-12 unit, we will continue to do our part to ensure that this mission will always be accomplished and that we will always be there when we are needed.”
Marquez said the time spent on this journey was certainly memorable and that he appreciated spending it with Darlington.
“I definitely want to commend Mr. Darlington because he is a great technical person. That’s why I wanted him there with me because he is a true warrant officer in that attention to detail,” Marquez said of his co-pilot. “The details are what bites you on these missions. If you miss one little piece, it can cause an international incident.”
The pilots, NCOs and subject matter experts of New Mexico National Guard’s Det. 44 have completed yet another mission successfully, without incident, and are already repeating the unique assignment. Their demonstrated capability, expertise, care for their equipment and personnel resources have afforded them the opportunities to continuously prove themselves as competent, proficient, go-to aviator’s in the Army’s repertoire.
| Date Taken: | 07.29.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 08.10.2016 14:45 |
| Story ID: | 206715 |
| Location: | SANTA FE, NM, US |
| Web Views: | 581 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, Santa Fe to Kuwait; New Mexico Army National Guard flies fixed wing aircraft to warfight, by 1LT Anna Doo, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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