Wright-Patt airlift control flight shuts down

Published Oct. 15, 2009
By Stacy Vaughn
445th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- No fanfare or well-wishers were present when the lights went off for the last time Sept. 30 at the 445th Airlift Control Flight.

The 445th Airlift Wing is one of four units in Air Force Reserve Command to lose its airlift control flights because of ALCF restructuring in the command. Other units in the command will absorb the manning and mission requirements.

Reservists in the 445th ALCF found another position in the wing, retired or transferred to another base.

When the 445th ALCF arrived here more than five years ago as part of a realignment at Andrews AFB, Md., it had 14 people.

"Our last two weeks here, it was down to four people," said Maj. Todd Baker, 445th ALCF operations officer. He said the flight has been preparing for its final day for the past year.

"We didn't just totally shut down right away," Major Baker said. "We were able to complete one more mission before we closed our doors. Our mission was to transfer most of our equipment to the 512th ALCF at Dover AFB, Del., where part of our mission was being absorbed.

"For the transfer to Dover, we inventoried and packed up our equipment, built our own pallets and coordinated the airlift. I think it is fitting that a unit whose mission was to deploy and help others deploy was able to roll itself up and move its own equipment one last time," he said.

The mission of airlift control flights is to deploy to austere airfields and to set up command and control operations in support of Air Mobility Command taskings. These units typically deploy with aerial port, maintenance, security forces, medical and other mission-support skills needed to make the mission happen. After an ALCF deploys and adds other members of the team, it changes its name to contingency response element.

The 445th ALCF, which reported directly to the 445th Operations Group, participated in a variety of operations to include humanitarian relief, exercises and contingencies since 2004. This included augmenting the command posts at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, and Hickam AFB, Hawaii. During Exercise Golden Medic 2005 at Volk Field, Wis., unit reservists served as the lead tanker airlift control element and worked joint operations with Marines and Soldiers. (Air Force Reserve Command News Service)