WEBVTT

00:00.090 --> 00:01.450
- Lieutenant Commander Adam McCarthy,

00:01.450 --> 00:03.920
I'm currently serving
at Air Station Kodiak,

00:03.920 --> 00:06.700
I'm flying C-130J's as a pilot.

00:06.700 --> 00:08.750
I've just transitioned to that aircraft

00:08.750 --> 00:11.320
from the C-130H aircraft.

00:11.320 --> 00:13.770
This past Sunday marked a historical day

00:13.770 --> 00:18.060
as our last C-130H departed from Kodiak

00:18.060 --> 00:19.520
en route to Barbers Point

00:19.520 --> 00:22.240
and we are now currently
fully transitioned

00:22.240 --> 00:24.830
to the C-130J aircraft.

00:24.830 --> 00:27.300
A little bit about my background is,

00:27.300 --> 00:29.520
I started out enlisted and I came here,

00:29.520 --> 00:32.010
actually to Kodiak, in 2004

00:32.010 --> 00:35.110
as a brand new AET3 out of A School.

00:35.110 --> 00:37.810
I was able to have the honor pleasure

00:37.810 --> 00:40.360
of qualifying as a basic air crew member

00:40.360 --> 00:43.050
on the C-130H and move
up through the ranks,

00:43.050 --> 00:44.690
and I actually attain a position

00:44.690 --> 00:46.760
of radio operator and navigator,

00:46.760 --> 00:48.240
tactical system operator,

00:48.240 --> 00:49.850
basically every qualification

00:49.850 --> 00:53.073
that I could have got in
my rate for the aircraft.

00:54.700 --> 00:56.370
And I fell in love with the plane

00:56.370 --> 00:57.520
and it's capabilities

00:57.520 --> 01:00.120
and the missions that we did in this area

01:00.120 --> 01:01.540
and I decided at that point

01:01.540 --> 01:04.730
that I wanted to continue on

01:04.730 --> 01:06.420
and learn how to fly that aircraft.

01:06.420 --> 01:09.290
I was fortunate to get picked up for OCS

01:09.290 --> 01:12.240
and I was eventually
picked up for flight school

01:12.240 --> 01:16.610
after many attempts and I found out,

01:16.610 --> 01:18.500
to my surprise and my pleasant surprise

01:18.500 --> 01:20.340
at flight school, that I would be

01:20.340 --> 01:22.900
flying the C-130H aircraft.

01:22.900 --> 01:25.880
I remember multiple cases where

01:25.880 --> 01:28.450
we would go out and one time

01:28.450 --> 01:31.690
we actually found a vessel with three

01:31.690 --> 01:32.960
individuals on board,

01:32.960 --> 01:35.830
small boat that had been
missing for eight days

01:35.830 --> 01:37.890
when we found them and they had survived

01:37.890 --> 01:40.460
for that long with only
a few bottles of water

01:40.460 --> 01:42.640
and a small amount of food.

01:42.640 --> 01:45.360
And my navigator was able to pick them up

01:45.360 --> 01:48.040
on radar and we flew over,

01:48.040 --> 01:49.570
after multiple days of searching for them

01:49.570 --> 01:52.600
and found them and the joy on their faces

01:52.600 --> 01:54.840
was surreal and just amazing

01:54.840 --> 01:58.500
to be able to vector in
a Good Samaritan vessel

01:58.500 --> 02:01.450
and watch as those men
climbed aboard that vessel

02:01.450 --> 02:03.160
and knowing that there's three lives saved

02:03.160 --> 02:05.220
there that day and that they could go home

02:05.220 --> 02:06.080
and see their families

02:06.080 --> 02:07.960
who had been worrying about them.

02:07.960 --> 02:11.920
So, it's just an amazing,
a rewarding mission

02:11.920 --> 02:13.440
and the C-130 is so capable

02:13.440 --> 02:15.250
that it can do search and rescue,

02:15.250 --> 02:17.700
law enforcement, and also logistics

02:17.700 --> 02:19.000
and many other of the Coast Guard's

02:19.000 --> 02:20.860
many missions that we do.

02:20.860 --> 02:23.330
I'm from Coast Guard Air
Station Barbers Point.

02:23.330 --> 02:25.400
I was fortunate to get
transferred back here

02:25.400 --> 02:29.310
to Kodiak again, my first
duty station in the H.

02:29.310 --> 02:33.060
And to see the C-130H to it's final

02:33.060 --> 02:36.230
few flights here, to once again fly

02:36.230 --> 02:39.300
as a aircraft commander
and to do the missions

02:39.300 --> 02:41.500
of this challenging environment.

02:41.500 --> 02:43.120
The C-130 is tasked with going,

02:43.120 --> 02:44.420
flying along Aleutian Islands

02:44.420 --> 02:46.130
and all over Alaska

02:46.130 --> 02:48.120
and flying in some of
the worst conditions,

02:48.120 --> 02:49.640
the strongest crosswinds,

02:49.640 --> 02:53.300
the lowest ceilings, fog, ice.

02:53.300 --> 02:56.190
Just to be able to taxi on an icy runway

02:56.190 --> 02:59.010
with an aircraft where you have absolutely

02:59.010 --> 03:00.270
no traction, no friction

03:00.270 --> 03:02.107
and zero breaking applications,

03:02.107 --> 03:05.230
to learn how to do that
with this aircraft,

03:05.230 --> 03:08.860
it was an amazing thing to achieve.

03:08.860 --> 03:13.170
And now, knowing the
C-130J is taking over here,

03:13.170 --> 03:15.110
and conducting those same missions,

03:15.110 --> 03:18.030
and doing it in a way where we have

03:18.030 --> 03:19.710
more capability now,

03:19.710 --> 03:23.440
whereas the C-130J has
the ability to fly faster,

03:23.440 --> 03:27.023
higher, and burn less
fuel than the C-130H.

03:28.362 --> 03:30.712
The crew contingency is
a little bit different,

03:31.977 --> 03:33.730
so that takes some getting used to.

03:33.730 --> 03:35.840
But, all in all, the
aircraft is more capable,

03:35.840 --> 03:38.900
it's modernized, compared to the H,

03:38.900 --> 03:41.040
and it's well suited to
do the mission up here

03:41.040 --> 03:42.110
that it's tasked to do.

03:42.110 --> 03:46.180
So I look forward continued C-130 presence

03:46.180 --> 03:48.993
in Alaska, flying the new C-130J.