60th AEG meets Air Expeditionary Force challenge head on
Now, more than six months after the attacks, commanders with the 60th AEG say the group has proven its worth in the war on terrorism. They point out it's the only expeditionary mobility operation in the Air Force that has the combined capability of air refueling, airlift, air cargo handling and staging, and air surveillance radar, all run by active duty, reserve and guard aviators, maintainers and specialists.
"We've got the whole package here," said Col. Janet Therianos, 60th AEG commander. "We've got KC-10s, C-17s, the 730th Expeditionary Air Mobility Squadron, C-5 staging operations and the AN/MPN-25 mobile radar system here. We have done just about every job AMC is equipped to do right here.
"And we do (the job) with some of the best airmen from the guard, reserves and active duty. The teamwork is fantastic," the colonel added.
The first 60th AEG aircraft to land here Sept. 21 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom was a KC-10A Extender from the 6th Air Refueling Squadron, Travis AFB, Calif. Seventeen days later, KC-10s launched on combat support sorties refueling B-52H Stratofortresses and B-1B Lancers that dropped munitions on terrorist training camps and enemy forces in Afghanistan.
On Feb. 22, the 9th EARS flew its 1,400th successful air-refueling mission in support of OEF. "Fourteen hundred successful sorties is nothing short of spectacular," said Lt. Col. Mike Mendonca, 9th EARS commander. "Our maintainers have done just a fantastic job here keeping these jets flying. They have launched an average of eight jets a day over the past 160 days."
The KC-10 squadron has done amazing things according to Therianos. In addition to its assigned air refueling missions, the squadron flies cargo and supports medical and life-saving missions, too.
Seven times now, KC-10s have been used to transport critical patients to hospitals that can provide long-term care. And, it was an all-Air Force Reserve crew that spotted the crew from a B-1B that crashed in the ocean near here and directed a Navy destroyer to the site, said Therianos.
Lt. Col. Gary Gutowsky, 730th EAMS commander, said the C-5 operations have been nothing short of a well-oiled machine. "One of the keys to the operation here are the (C-5) maintainers," Gutowsky said. "They've changed everything from fuel injectors to main landing gear strut assemblies, the hard stuff, out here at the end of the supply chain. They keep these birds moving cargo."
Gutowsky added that the aerial port folks have moved over 30,000 short tons of cargo and 14,500 passengers through the gates here on nearly 1,700 AMC sorties since the beginning of the war. "And we've done it with a group of people from various backgrounds and locations who started out on 'day one' like they've worked together for years," Gutowsky said. "I have to tell you, this Total Force concept works."
Soon after the New Year began, the war effort changed gears. The B-1Bs moved out and C-17s moved in to carry the Army's 101st Airborne Division into Afghanistan. Because of this, the 60th AEG gained full "hub-and-spoke" status when the 17th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron joined the fleet of AMC airlifters and refuelers. The 730th EAMS is the hub.
Renamed the 14th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, the C-17s have flown more that 130 OEF sorties and moved nearly 20 percent of the 101st AD's personnel and 3,300 short tons of trucks, Humvees, helicopters and other support material to aid in the Army's mission in Kandahar.
"The 60th (AEG) really has a great setup moving cargo from the (C-5s) to our C-17s," said Lt. Col. Jim Barr, 14th EAS commander. "We've taken full advantage of the (C-17's) long-haul and tactical capability launching sorties from here. We carry full loads of cargo long distances into Afghanistan from (here) and land on a short, austere -- and dangerous -- airfield in Kandahar," Barr said. "What's great about this plane is the ability to get in quick, offload our stuff and get out, fast.
"Our mission continues to evolve," Barr continued. "We are flying into numerous airfields in the (area of responsibility), carrying cargo and fuel to support the warfighters."
"People are the key to our success," said Therianos. Our aerial porters are almost exclusively (Air National Guard) and (Air Force) reservists. Our air refuelers and C-5 drivers are a mix of active and reserves and the C-17's impact on this operation has been absolutely fantastic," Therianos continued. "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else, doing anything other than what I get to do here, because I get to work with dedicated, professional airmen."
(FROM AIR MOBILITY COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS)
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