C-17 transports Marines to special ops mission
CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. (USTCNS) --- It isn't very often that elite units of Marines need help accomplishing a mission, but when they do, Charleston-based C-17s are the answer to their call.
Task Force 58, a Marine unit, needed airlift to get into southern Afghanistan to stop Taliban members from fleeing. The trip would include landing on a dirt strip at night, without runway lights for guidance. Add the threat of enemy fire, and they realized they needed highly trained aircrews ready for action.
Immediately the C-17 was considered because it is the only aircraft capable of carrying outsized cargo directly into that type of semi-prepared environment, said Capt. Rick Williamson, a C-17 flight examiner with the 14th Airlift Squadron.
Once it was determined that Charleston AFB and the C-17s would be running these missions, the question was asked, who would the operators be? Williamson explained that although all C-17 crews are trained in tactical approaches, air refueling and landings on semi-prepared surfaces, the Special Operations Low Level II crews were, at that time, the only crews qualified to fly with night-vision goggles.
After the decision was made, five aircrews, maintenance, and tactics and planning personnel were deployed to the Mideast.
On Nov. 28, a Charleston crew completed the first-ever C-17 combat dirt landing using night-vision goggles at Rhino Landing Zone, an airstrip 60 miles southwest of Khandahar, Afghanistan. For the next eight days they completed 64 sorties, delivering 970 short tons and 481 passengers, said Williamson.
"One night I had two trucks with trailers that encompassed the entire cargo compartment, floor to ceiling," said Williamson. "These two vehicles alone weighed 89,000 pounds. We completed all these missions with a 100-percent reliability rate," he continued, "due in large part to our own MASOP (maintenance special operations), which are our special ops maintainers we have here at Charleston.
"We had eight maintainers. Two would fly every night on each aircraft, so six would fly each night while two crews rested," Williamson added. "After we would fly all night long, we would go to crew rest, and they would start working the jets to turn them the next day. They worked their butts off."
According to Williamson, each mission took 16 hours and consisted of an intermediate stop to upload the Marines and their equipment, the landing at Rhino to unload, and air refueling before another upload. From there they would make a last stop at Rhino, complete another air refueling and finally complete the mission back at their deployed location.
Using tactics to reduce the noise of incoming C-17s the missions were a complete success, he said.
"I thought actually getting a chance to validate what we have been training for, not just in the last two years with the transition of SOLL II to the C-17, but I've been flying airlift for nine years, and it was nice to actually get to do something to put it all into action," Williamson said. "After all the hard work we have put into this program, to use and practice the capabilities of the C-17 was great!"
"I'm very proud of how successful this team of professionals was 'getting the stuff to the fight' on a dirt strip in the middle of the desert," said Col. Bob Allardice, 437th Operations Group commander. "Our people demonstrated the ability to apply months of training to fully use the capabilities of the C-17."
Williamson said the success of the operations at Camp Rhino and the humanitarian airdrops earlier in the war have given the C-17 community a good idea of what it takes to rapidly deploy a three- or four-ship package of C-17s, fly strategic distances and operate directly in the tactical environment.
"Additionally," he said, "this operation gave us a better understanding of our ability for night operations. This operation into Rhino is just another example of how Charleston can quickly pull together a team of well-trained people from multiple disciplines to fully exploit the capabilities of the C-17," said Allardice.
(FROM AIR MOBILITY COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS)
Task Force 58, a Marine unit, needed airlift to get into southern Afghanistan to stop Taliban members from fleeing. The trip would include landing on a dirt strip at night, without runway lights for guidance. Add the threat of enemy fire, and they realized they needed highly trained aircrews ready for action.
Immediately the C-17 was considered because it is the only aircraft capable of carrying outsized cargo directly into that type of semi-prepared environment, said Capt. Rick Williamson, a C-17 flight examiner with the 14th Airlift Squadron.
Once it was determined that Charleston AFB and the C-17s would be running these missions, the question was asked, who would the operators be? Williamson explained that although all C-17 crews are trained in tactical approaches, air refueling and landings on semi-prepared surfaces, the Special Operations Low Level II crews were, at that time, the only crews qualified to fly with night-vision goggles.
After the decision was made, five aircrews, maintenance, and tactics and planning personnel were deployed to the Mideast.
On Nov. 28, a Charleston crew completed the first-ever C-17 combat dirt landing using night-vision goggles at Rhino Landing Zone, an airstrip 60 miles southwest of Khandahar, Afghanistan. For the next eight days they completed 64 sorties, delivering 970 short tons and 481 passengers, said Williamson.
"One night I had two trucks with trailers that encompassed the entire cargo compartment, floor to ceiling," said Williamson. "These two vehicles alone weighed 89,000 pounds. We completed all these missions with a 100-percent reliability rate," he continued, "due in large part to our own MASOP (maintenance special operations), which are our special ops maintainers we have here at Charleston.
"We had eight maintainers. Two would fly every night on each aircraft, so six would fly each night while two crews rested," Williamson added. "After we would fly all night long, we would go to crew rest, and they would start working the jets to turn them the next day. They worked their butts off."
According to Williamson, each mission took 16 hours and consisted of an intermediate stop to upload the Marines and their equipment, the landing at Rhino to unload, and air refueling before another upload. From there they would make a last stop at Rhino, complete another air refueling and finally complete the mission back at their deployed location.
Using tactics to reduce the noise of incoming C-17s the missions were a complete success, he said.
"I thought actually getting a chance to validate what we have been training for, not just in the last two years with the transition of SOLL II to the C-17, but I've been flying airlift for nine years, and it was nice to actually get to do something to put it all into action," Williamson said. "After all the hard work we have put into this program, to use and practice the capabilities of the C-17 was great!"
"I'm very proud of how successful this team of professionals was 'getting the stuff to the fight' on a dirt strip in the middle of the desert," said Col. Bob Allardice, 437th Operations Group commander. "Our people demonstrated the ability to apply months of training to fully use the capabilities of the C-17."
Williamson said the success of the operations at Camp Rhino and the humanitarian airdrops earlier in the war have given the C-17 community a good idea of what it takes to rapidly deploy a three- or four-ship package of C-17s, fly strategic distances and operate directly in the tactical environment.
"Additionally," he said, "this operation gave us a better understanding of our ability for night operations. This operation into Rhino is just another example of how Charleston can quickly pull together a team of well-trained people from multiple disciplines to fully exploit the capabilities of the C-17," said Allardice.
(FROM AIR MOBILITY COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS)
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