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Texas C-5 unit airlifts Coast Guard 'Dolphin' from Down Under

  • Published
  • By Maj. Tim Wade
  • 433rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas --  The 433rd Airlift Wing recently provided airlift support to a U.S. Coast Guard unit by transporting a HH-65C Dolphin helicopter back to United States from Cairns, Australia.

The USCG Deployable Operations Group requested airlift support for an Air Station North Bend, Ore., aircrew aboard the USCG Cutter Waesche. It did not go through the normal process but found its way to the 433rd Operations Support Squadron.

"We accomplished this operation through message traffic," said Steve Brown, USCG Strategic Mobility manager.

The Dolphin crew was providing fishery law enforcement on the Waesche, said Lt. Rob O'Donnell, an AS North Bend pilot.

"We were patrolling the economic zones America has with all of its territories down here," he said. "We also took on some other ship riders. We took on one from the Cook Islands. We were able to go into there. We also took on the Australians and we were able to do some patrolling for them before we pulled into port."

Once in port, the crew awaited the arrival of their transportation home which took a great deal of coordination especially for those responsible for dealing with the cargo. This task fell to Senior Master Sgt. Dave Delgado, 433rd Airlift Control Flight Contingency Response Team chief.

"Our forte is going to where no command or control exists to fully assist the customer," said Delgado, who is also an experienced loadmaster, about the role ALCF would play in the mission. "We are basically the coordinators to make sure the customer is ready, the equipment is ready."

The coordination process could be as stressful as conducting Mozart in a sold-out auditorium.

"It is like being the director of an orchestra," said Delgado. "We go out there with our team of aerial porters, Ops people and me, to set up a small operation to make sure the cargo that is going to be put in the airplane is air worthy. We let the aerial porters do the shipper's declaration (forms), joint inspection, and load planning."

The team also has to plan how to load and unload the cargo as well.

"We also coordinate for the material handling equipment- the forklifts, and k-loaders," he said. "You don't want to send an airplane to a location and not have the support equipment to put the equipment on the airplane."

The total team consisted of a mixture of aircrew personnel from the 68th and 356th Airlift Squadrons and 433rd OSS. As well as ground support members from the 74th Aerial Port Squadron and 433rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron.

With Cairns International Airport officials providing logistical assistance, the load team was able to get the items properly weighed and inspected which ensured an on-time departure.

"It was a great team effort by everyone involved," said Lt. Col. Gordon Griggs, 433rd ALCF commander and member of the mission as well. "Like all missions, there were some challenges we encountered but to everyone's credit, we were able to press forward and successfully service the customer."

On May 6, the team departed from Cairns and landed at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii for rest. The next day, the team departed Hickam and arrived at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., for the unloading of the aircraft and five crew members. The USCG team used ground transportation to return to their base in Oregon.

The C-5A Galaxy tail #90016 arrived back in San Antonio on May 8 with a weary but satisfied crew.

"It is always great to serve a customer, but when you are able to get valuable training for our Airmen included into a mission, as we had a few members accomplish their initial check rides, it makes it an all around successful experience," said Griggs.

Click on Waesche to learn more about the one the U.S. Coast Guard's newest vessels and its crew

Click on Air Station North Bend to learn more about the Coast Guardsmen who traveled Down Under

Click here to see the C-5A Galaxy landing in Cairns, Australia. It was a major event for some of the local citizens.