A Salute to the A/TA Industry Partners - Airlift/Tanker Association

Upon learning that one the staff members at South Pole requiredadditional medical supplies, the National Science Foundation, whichis the lead agency for the U.S. Antarctic Program, formally requestedhelp from its inter-agency partner, Joint Task Force-Support ForcesAntarctica. Lt. Gen. Stanley T. Kresge, the commander of both 13thAir Force and JTF-SFA, based at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii,called upon his attached C-17 Globemaster III forces, deployedfrom Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wa., to providea solution.The solution: a parachute-enabled C-17 airdropof medical supplies in bitter cold andcomplete darkness using night-vision devices.Although JTF-SFA plans for such missionsand trains for this requirement during thesummer season, this is the first time a C-17has attempted a mid-winter, nighttime airdropat the South Pole, according to officials.Lt. Col. Robert Wellington, the commanderof the 304th EAS, assigned C-17 weaponsand tactics instructor pilot Maj. Rick Kind toplan the mission. Wellington, Kind and theJTF-SFA team worked closely with NSF plannersto execute the mission.The typical Operation Deep Freeze missionconsists of a 4 1/2-hour flight fromChristchurch to McMurdo, with only one hour on the ground beforereturning to New Zealand. By being able to combine missions,the C-17 crew simply added the 2 1/2-hour flight over the SouthPole after the routine stop at McMurdo. Once over the South Pole,the crew released two parachute-supported 200-lb bundles of suppliesbefore heading back to Christchurch.“During the winter, the only option was to airdrop supplies in,”said Lt. Col. Edward Vaughan, Operation Deep Freeze’s interim directorof joint operations. “Rapid global mobility is one of the AirForce’s core capabilities in supporting the joint military team. Yearroundairdrop at the South Pole is one ofthe specific capabilities that the 304th EASbrings to JTF-SFA operations.”Since the South Pole has 24 hours ofdarkness during the polar winter, the useof night-vision goggles was essential for themission, officials said. Scheduling the deliveryaround daylight was not a factor.“The complex mission, utilizing NVGsto first land at McMurdo and then later acquirethe South Pole drop zone, exploitedthe unique capability of the aircraft andvalidated the operational procedures developedand the training accomplishedover the last several ODF Seasons,” Wellingtonsaid. “It was the first C-17A winterairdrop at the pole and presents a stellarexample of inter-agency cooperation.”According to Kevin Schriner, an NSF contractorand network administrator at theSouth Pole, the air drop was a complete success.Both packages were dropped and recoveredwithout damage.“Coming on the heels of the late-June, mid-winter medical evacuationmission from McMurdo (Station, Antarctica), we welcomedanother opportunity to provide assistance to the NSF,” Wellingtonsaid. “Plus, we were fortunate to have the right crew with rightqualifications in place when the call came in.”Delivering Hope Here at HomeHope can be delivered in many guises, for instance, if your homeA parachute-enabled C-17 air-drops medicalsupplies in bitter cold and complete darknessusing night-vision devices, at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica on 1 September2011. (U.S. Air Force Photo).A C-130H Hercules from the 302nd Airlift Wing,Colorado Springs Air Force Reserve, equippedwith the Modular Airborne Firefighting System(MAFFS) drops a line of fire retardant inWest Texas, 27 April 2011. MAFFS is capable ofdispensing 3,000 gallons of water or fire retardantin under 5 seconds. The wildfires spreadacross various parts of Texas and burned morethan 1,000 square miles of land. (U.S. Air ForcePhoto/Staff Sgt. Eric Harris).is in the path of a raging wildfire,hope may arrive as fire retardantfrom the air. Unfortunately, many Americans found themselves inneed of just such a delivery of hope this year.In early September, Six Defense Department C-130 aircraftequipped with U.S. Forest Service modular airborne firefighting systemswere tasked by U.S. Northern Command in support of the NationalInteragency Fire Center to supplement wildland firefightingefforts in Texas and in the Pacific Northwest.Four aircraft – two from the Air Force ReserveCommand’s 302nd Airlift Wing, PetersonAFB, Colo., and two from the 145th AirliftWing of the North Carolina Air NationalGuard – were tasked to deploy to Austin,Texas, to help fight fires there.Two C-130s and crews from the 153rd AirliftWing assigned to the Wyoming Air NationalGuard staged out of Boise, Idaho, toprovide support as needed for fires in westernstates. About 90 Air Reserve crews and supportpersonnel were deployed to support theaerial firefighting missions.“This has been a very active fire season.We exceeded our annual average of fire missionstwo months ago and this is now becomingone of the most active fire seasons wehave faced,” said Air Force Lt. Col. David Condit, deputy commanderof the 302nd Air Expeditionary Group.The 302nd AEG is comprised of personnel from the Air ForceReserve Command’s 302nd Airlift Wing, CO, North CarolinaAir National Guard’s 145th Airlift Wing, California Air NationalGuard’s 146th Airlift Wing and Wyoming Air National Guard’s153rd Airlift Wing.The MAFFS units, owned by the U.S. Forest Service, are self-contained,portable aerial firefighting systems, which can discharge3,000 gallons of water or fire retardant in less than five secondsover an area one-quarter of a mile long by60-feet wide. Once the load is discharged,the MAFFS system can be refilled in lessthan 12 minutes.With the use of new MAFFS II units, thisyear’s fire season was the first to successfullyfly fire missions that increased effectivenesswhile decreasing costs.No End in SightNo other country in the world has, orwill have in the near future, an air mobilitycapability comparable to that of theUnited States, and there is every reason tobelieve that military forces, non-governmentalorganizations, international organizations,and military allies will continueto place a high demand on America’s airmobility capabilities in future geopoliticalenvironments.The demand will remain high because, inthe view of General Walter Kross, USAF (ret),a former commander of Air Mobility Commandand the current A/TA chairman, America’s air mobility capabilitieswill continue to be the first in and the last out across thefull spectrum of operations—because “human nature will neverchange. And the laws of physics will never change.”In other words, the world will always be a dangerous place, andas long as the United States continues to engage throughout theworld, it must maintain a robust air mobility capability, and Americawill continue “Delivering Hope.”22A/TQ • Airlift/Tanker Quarterly • Fall 2011