Reserve loadmasters at the heart of C-130 operations

Published Feb. 22, 2006
By Maj. Ann P. Knabe
379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- As Tech. Sgt Kristy Decker, 746th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron loadmaster, knows, no flight in the AOR is predictable.

With nearly two decades of flying under her belt, the Colorado Springs Air Force reservist is serving her first tour of duty with the 746th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron based in Southwest Asia. To date, the loadmaster has flown into Iraq, Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa more than 20 times.

The other half of this loadmaster team is Master Sgt. Thomas “Hoser” Freeman, also a 302nd Airlift Wing reservist based at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo.

Together, they play a critical role in the C-130 mission. Sergeants Freeman and Decker accomplish preflight checks of aircraft, making sure all equipment is working. Then they supervise the loading of the aircraft, including cargo and passengers. Then they calculate the weight and balance of the cargo so the aircraft can safely fly.

“Loadmasters provide the pilot with precise weight and balance calculations to determine the plane’s center of gravity,” said Maj. Brian Tallent, 746th EAS assistant director of operations, referring to the role of loadmasters. “This is key to ensuring the aircraft flies.”

The Baghdad mission required the loadmasters to juggle multiple responsibilities throughout the evening. Their first stop was Bahrain, an airport with a strong U.S. Navy presence.

One passenger departed the aircraft in Bahrain. As the troop walked off the plane, Sergeants Decker and Freeman supervised the loading of three pallets, weighing more than 4,000 pounds each onto the C-130.

Meanwhile, more passengers boarded the plane. Their luggage followed on pallets. The aircraft took-off for Iraq, carrying sophisticated military communications equipment, a 2,000-pound air compressor, and 1,500 pounds of compressed air and chemicals.

Nighttime descents into Iraq keep the loadmasters busy. As the plane descended into Iraq, the loadmasters strapped themselves to seats in the rear.

They peered through the windows, scouring the skies through night vision goggles, looking for signs of enemy fire.

Dim green lights illuminated the interior of the plane with an iridescent glow. Normal white lights block out the night vision goggles, while the soft green ones allow aircrew unimpeded vision.

Aircraft Commander Maj. Eric Hall and copilot Maj. Jim Travis maneuvered the aircraft using a tactical approach to evade enemy fire. Approaches in Iraq are complex because of the airspace surrounding the airports, other traffic and enemy threats.

“The (airspace) is saturated,” explained Major Hall. “It’s within close vicinity of other airfields, and there’s almost always something military-related going on down on the ground that requires combat air support.

This, in turn, affects traffic in and out of Iraq.”

On the ground, the passengers departed the plane into the night, walking single file away from the aircraft. Meanwhile, the loadmasters directed forklift drivers as they lifted the three pallets into darkness.

Col. Dennis Ployer, 447th Air Expeditionary Group Commander, greeted the aircrew, making a long lost connection with Tech. Sgt. Craig Schueler, a C-130 flight engineer based in Milwaukee.

Colonel Ployer, who serves as the 911th Airlift Wing Commander back in the United States, was stationed with Sergeant Schueler in Milwaukee in the late 1990s.

The conversation turned serious as Colonel Ployer explained the crew would be carrying human remains out of Baghdad that night.

The crew had flown similar missions in the past.

“But every time it’s painful,” said Sergeant Decker.

The aircrew and other passengers quietly filed in the back of the C-130, lining both sides of the aircraft interior. The officer of the day called the servicemembers to attention, the group saluted and six Airmen silently carried the flag-draped coffin up the ramp of the C-130,

They carefully set the casket down. An American flag tightly covered the coffin, folded precisely at the corners and held in place by parachute cord.

More than 30 Airmen, Soldiers and Sailors followed the casket onto the aircraft. Few, if any, knew the fallen American. Yet, they all volunteered to pay final honors by escorting the remains to the aircraft.

The officer of the day called the servicemembers to attention, and the group slowly and deliberately saluted in unison. Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Jimmy Browning asked all present to remember the American, fallen by an IED.

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…” said the chaplain, reading the 23rd Psalm.

The group rendered a final salute in silence before departing the aircraft.

A few minutes later, 46 Army soldiers boarded the plane, filing in alongside the tightly secured casket. Two pallets followed, holding bags wrapped in plastic and straps, stacked more than five feet high.

The entire time, the loadmasters supervised the placement of the cargo, securing it tightly to the floor of the aircraft.

Stacked side by side on the cargo seats, soldiers lined their feet, helmets and bags just inches from the metal casket. As the engines vibrated, the soldiers slept, read or simply stared ahead at the dimly lit casket. On take-off, the C-130 was full to capacity.

The glow of green lights illuminated the flight deck and cargo area. When the plane touched down, Sergeants Decker and Freeman downloaded the pallets of cargo off in minutes.

The loadmasters asked the Soldiers and Airmen closest to the casket to stand and render final a salute as the casket was carried off.

There would be one more stop before the end of the mission. It was almost dawn when the crew landed the C-130 at their home base, but the loadmasters’ job wasn’t done.

After everything and everyone was gone from the aircraft, Sergeants Decker and Freeman cleaned the interior of the plane and organized the cargo seats, leaving the C-130 ready for its next flight.

C-130 operations in the AOR