C-130 crews ensure wing continues to put "Boots on the Ground"

Courtesy Photo | Chief Master Sgt. Dave Niehaus, a flight engineer and superintendent of the 386th Expeditionary Operations Group, pre-flights the aircraft before their mission. (Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Ryan Hansen)  

(UNDISCLOSED LOCATION)

08.01.2006

Courtesy Story

386th Air Expeditionary Wing

by Staff Sgt. Ryan Hansen
386th AEW/PA

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Aircrew members of the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing sometimes call their daily task here laborious, exhausting and strenuous. But there is one word that describes their mission that is unquestioned – crucial.

C-130s from the wing have been providing airlift support to the entire AOR everyday since its activation in 2001. The two airlift squadrons, the 737th and 738th Expeditionary Airlift Squadrons, have averaged more than 1,700 sorties a month and have topped more than 55,000 total since 2003.

"Our mission here is to support the troops in harm's way," said Col. Ronald Celentano, 386th Expeditionary Operations Group commander. "If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't have a mission. And if we don't properly execute our mission then it increases their risk and we can't have that."

The 386th AEW is the primary aerial hub for Operation Iraqi Freedom and also provides airlift support for Operation Enduring Freedom and the Horn of Africa. To execute this mission the wing relies on a fleet of C-130s and roughly 200 aircrew members to deliver the goods. These dedicated Airmen typically fly 12-to-16 hour missions over some of the most dangerous skies in the world 30-to-40 times a deployment.

"We're very lucky to do what we do," said Capt. Travis Sjostedt, a C-130 pilot with the 738th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron. "We really get to see the big picture about what the 386th does."

C-130 aircrews are in such demand that they are not part of the traditional AEF rotation process like most of the Air Force. A lot of them deploy for 90-to-120 days and return home for three or four months before returning back to the fight.

"The C-130 crews are part of what they call the enabler force," said Chief Master Sgt. Dave Niehaus, 386th EOG superintendent. "They're deployed more often than a lot of the Air Force and some of them will be gone for eight months out of the year."

This continuous deployment process and daily grind is where the aircrew member's description of repetitive and tiresome comes from.

"The time passes by here and I don't even know what day it is after a while," said 1st Lt. Eric Newton, a C-130 navigator with the 738th EAS. "I just sleep when they tell me to sleep and fly when they tell me to fly."

This challenging lifestyle is not only hard on the aircrew here, but also their family members back home.

"My wife is used to it by now," said Staff Sgt. Eric Watts, a loadmaster with the 737th EAS, who is on his fourth deployment in three years. "But this one is a little longer than some of the others that I've had."

However, this doesn't mean the aircrews don't love what they do or believe in the mission. Nothing could be further from the truth and the proof is in their incredibly high mission effectiveness rate as they are part of the largest continuous airlift mission since the Berlin Airlift.

"The C-130 was my first choice," said. Capt. John Fuccillo, a C-130 co-pilot with the 738th EAS. "It's just a great aircraft and really one of the hardest to fly, in my opinion, because of its aerodynamics."

"When I was in pilot training I wasn't sure what aircraft I wanted to fly," Captain Sjostedt said. "But I talked to a lieutenant colonel and he spoke so passionately about the mission of the C-130 and that really did it for me. This was my first choice at that point."

Although C-130s are middle-aged aircraft, they are reliable. Most of them in the inventory are from the early 1960s and mid 1970s, but they continue to deliver when called upon thanks to the dedication of the maintainers.

"C-130s are the workhorse of tactical airlift," Colonel Celentano said. "Yes they are old, but they are reliable thanks to some of the finest maintainers in the Air Force that we have here with us. It's phenomenal to see what they can do. Without them we could not do what we need to do."

And as long as the 386th AEW is charged with putting "Boots on the Ground," the aircrews will be here to fulfill that promise.

"It's a team effort and it takes the entire base," Chief Niehaus said. "It's really a beautiful symphony when it all comes together."

• Date Taken: 08.01.2006
• Date Posted: 08.01.2006 09:53
• Story ID: 7336
• Location: (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION)