Top Stories
Sister C-17 arrives in Amberley
By Andrew Stackpool

Edition 4909, 31 May, 2007
 
BRAND NEW: 36SQN’s second C-17 Globemaster III arrives home at RAAF Base Amberley for the first time from the Boeing facility in Long Beach, California. Photo by LAC Scott Woodward
 
Inset: CDRALG AIRCDRE Jack Plenty (right) joins members of 36SQN and Boeing after taking delivery of the new aircraft at the US Boeing facility.
Photo by Gina Vanatter
 
Number 36 Squadron continues its ‘journey of a thousand miles’.

Its fleet of C-17 Globemaster III strategic airlifters doubled when its second aircraft touched down without fanfare at RAAF Base Amberley on May 20.

CDRALG AIRCDRE Jack Plenty accepted the C-17 at the Boeing factory in California on May 11. The aircraft then flew to McChord Air Force Base (AFB), Washington, and Yokota, Japan, where it was part of a back-drop static display for an international Global Mobility seminar.

“Our preparations for [the arrival of] the second C-17 went very well and we’re ready for it,” 36SQN CO WGCDR Linda Corbould said.

“It’s an exciting time [for the squadron] and the techos are really looking forward to getting their hands on it.”

Like its predecessor, the aircraft did not rest on its laurels and deployed to RAAF Base Pearce only three days after its arrival.

One of its first overseas tasks will involve transporting up to 60,000lbs of cargo, including Mk 48 exercise torpodoes, from Hawaii and California to Australia in support of the USN and RAN’s joint submarine commanders course.

36SQN has maintained a high operational tempo in 2007, expanding its reach beyond Australia, and rotating future crews through training schedules in the US.

The squadron has achieved another ‘first’ with SQNLDR Warren Crouch and FLTLT Jarrod Pendlebury attaining their C-17 captain’s endorsement – the first RAAF pilots to do so.

WGCDR Corbould said that to qualify, the two officers required extensive flying both in Australia and overseas.

“They also conducted a number of night and day assault landings at McChord,” WGCDR Corbould said.

“Along with [USAF exchange officer] MAJ Lee Guthrie, we now have three qualified captains.”

Numbers of C-17-qualified aircrew are to get a further boost when another six pilots and loadmasters return from training in the US, while the USAF is providing training supplementation at Amberley with another two pilots and two loadmasters. Then, in July, a further eight pilots and four loadmasters leave for Altus AFB, Oklohama, where C-17 aircrew training is carried out.