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Pakistanis show appreciation to C-130 crew

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Kali L. Gradishar
  • U.S. Air Forces Central Combat Camera News Team
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan --  A C-130H aircrew from here received a warm welcome from Pakistanis when the crew offloaded supplies in an area devastated by flooding.

The crew from Bagram's 746th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron had flown to Chaklala Air Base, Pakistan, where the aircraft was loaded with five pallets of assorted food donated from various regions throughout Pakistan. Once the pallets were loaded and secure, the crew went to Shahbaz AB, Pakistan, near the city of Jacobabad.

"They were happy to see us (at Shahbaz AB)," said Tech. Sgt. Adam Nixon, an Air Force Reserve C130H Hercules loadmaster deployed to the 746th EAS. "I was not expecting the welcome party when we flew in there. They've been really grateful, really accommodating what we need to help them out."

Local Pakistanis and Pakistan air force personnel really seemed grateful, according to Capt. Nick Ing, an Air Force Reserve C-130 pilot deployed from the 357th Airlift Squadron, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.

"They just wanted to come shake our hands," he said. "And overall, the people really seem receptive that we are trying to help. (One Pakistan air force officer) really expressed his gratitude that we are there to help and (told us) everything we're doing is being appreciated by the people."

With a dire need for the supplies, Pakistanis at Shahbaz AB went immediately to work unloading the pallets from the C-130 almost as soon as the engines were shut down. More than 15 men stood near the ramp, waiting for it to be opened so they could unload the supplies that would be distributed to nearby villages shortly after.

Working with equipment differences for offloading the pallets, the Pakistan and American crews worked together with what they had.

An Air Force loadmaster adjusted the height of the ramp to make it level with the K-loader, essentially a long flatbed truck with tracks of rollers, and a Pakistani man backed the K-loader to the edge of the ramp.

A Pakistani man backed up the vehicle without anyone assistance.

"(We) just made sure he didn't run into the airplane. He lined it up spot on," said Sergeant Nixon, who was impressed with skill of the driver.

"With the C-130 you have to be a little more accurate," said Sergeant Nixon. "You have to be within a couple inches left and right, and he was within those inches. He's better than (a lot of forklift operators I've) worked with, and he's driving backwards."

Once the truck was backed up, a handful of men hopped into the C-130 to push the pallets off the aircraft and onto the flatbed.

"We unlocked the pallets, and then enthusiastically the Pakistanis pushed them off ...," said Sergeant Nixon. "They had a couple that got wedged a little bit. They took a strap and hooked it to a forklift. Then on the other side, they used another strap and eight guys" to pull the pallet all the way onto the flat bed.

Sergeant Nixon was impressed with the efficiency of the Pakistanis.

"You never know what to expect when you go to places like that," said the loadmaster from Homewood, Ala. "The ability with which they worked with what little they had was outstanding .... "

The crew is one of four crews forward deployed from the 746th EAS, arrived at Bagram Airfield Aug. 16 along with support personnel and two C-130s. Since then, they have been flying missions mostly into southern Pakistan, a region hit especially hard by the flooding.

According to the National Disaster Management Authority, the floods have affected more than 14 million people, more than one million homes were damaged or destroyed, and there have been more than 1,500 deaths and more than 2,000 injuries nation wide.

"Once we started getting about 15 nautical miles from Shahbaz AB, you could see the devastation," said Captain Ing. "You could see the rivers were overflowing. You could see that some of the towns are submersed underwater and not accessible by anything but boat or helicopter.

"When we opened the doors it seemed like they were very receptive. They came out, they were very quick to greet us and to offload the supplies," he said. "The process was quick because they really need our supplies. So they offloaded us, thanked us and we took off."