High and Dry

By WGCDR Bob Rodgers
Volume 48, No. 12, July 13, 2006

IN THE KNOW: WGCDR Glen Coy briefs Deputy Commander of the Joint Task Force, COL Richard Stanhope, en route to Afghanistan.

FAST TRACKED: Mambo 32 discharges her precious cargo. No ground power on the dirt, here the engines remain turning supplying power and hydraulics, always ready, if necessary, for a quick departure; turnaround averages 15 to 20 minutes. In their time in theatre, the Australian C-130s have moved an immense amount of cargo.

KEEPING A WEATHER EYE: WOFF Andrew Greer watches an approaching forklift as WOFF Rob Swanwick and Air Load Team Leader FLTLT Paul Kretchsman discuss load details.

IT’S 0300; the heat is already rising, a presage of the coming day. The air load team has been working for some time, conducting last-minute load checks and moving the pallets onto waiting aircraft.

In the fight operations area, the crew is finalising the intelligence brief and talking through the details of the route they will fly.

The aircraft captain and co-pilot, FLTLT Clarke McNamara and FLGOFF ‘Harry’ Harris, ask short, sharp questions, interpreting data. The young pilots and the ‘old and bold’ loadmasters, WOFFs Rob Swanwick and Andrew Greer, share in all aspects of the preparations. Today’s mission is in support of Op Slipper, so they’ll be operating in Afghanistan.

On this flight the Deputy Commander of the Joint Task Force, COL Richard Stanhope, is traveling to establish a forward headquarters in anticipation of the arrival of the Australian Reconstruction Task Force.

COL Stanhope will be assisting the Australian National Commander in theatre, BRIG Mick Moon, to oversee Australian operations in Afghanistan and represent him with Coalition partners.

WOFF Swanwick delivers the pre-flight brief. Helmets and body armour will be worn at specific times in response to the threat of small arms fire. Threats to the aircraft, crew and passengers are very real.

The crew will fly an aggressive tactical approach to Kandahar airfield to counter any ground threat, though with carefully-developed tactics and procedures, combined with a self-protection capability and highly trained crews, the Australian C-130s have safely flown hundreds of missions.
The loadmasters do their final checks in the aircraft and then WOFF Swanwick watches engine start-up. All clear, and the aircraft taxis out past row upon row of Coalition aircraft.

The scale of operations in the Middle East can be mind-boggling. It’s not unusual to find more than 20 airframes of various nationalities and types at some of the airfields in theatre.

The aircraft lands at Kandahar and as the ramp is opening the air load team is already approaching with the fork lift to remove the first pallet. Within minutes, five pallets are offloaded.

The crew quickly refocuses on getting back in the air but, as are the vagaries of operations, all the good work of the loadmasters and air load team is for naught; the runway is unexpectedly closed for one and a half hours for maintenance.

The pilots get a hint that the runway will reopen shortly. To ensure they don’t get caught in a queue to take off, everyone piles on and the crew go through engine start in anticipation of clearance.

A good call, the runway opens and the Australian C-130 is first out of Kandahar en-route to a dirt strip in southern Afghanistan.

The short leg into the next stop requires another tactical approach into am area that requires care and concentration. A dirt strip with regular cross-winds, the pilots earn their pay here every trip, often landing right on aircraft limits.

An op stop, the aircraft will be unloaded with the engines turning to facilitate getting out as quickly as possible. In 15 to 20 minutes the aircraft is powering on for take off as WOFF Swanwick locks the outgoing load in place.

It has been a long day as the aircraft touches down in Kandahar at 1700.

The post-flight de-brief moves quickly over key aspects of planning and the flight itself. Less humour now, more business; you can see everyone is tired. Tomorrow they’ll do this again – to another destination
On June 7 the C-130s of the Task Group chalked up 8000 hours flown in support of Ops Catalyst and Slipper.

Almost without exception, every Australian in theatre has flown in one of the Air Lift Task Group aircraft and they have carried thousands of tonnes of much-needed supplies and equipment to support Australian operations.

 

 

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