'Bold Effort' tests Reserve C-130 unit's re-supply capabilities Published July 16, 2007 By Staff Sgt. Ian Carrier 91tth Airlift Wing Public Affairs PITTSBURGH AIR RESERVE STATION, Pa -- Airmen from the Air Force Reserve Command's 911th Airlift Wing here conducted Exercise Bold Effort on July 14 to hone their transport and re-supply skills vital during a time of war. The exercise began with a C-130 Hercules "elephant walk" at Pittsburgh Air Reserve Station, the home of the 911th in Coraopolis, Pa. The eight-ship formation, something rare in training exercises, then made its way to Rickenbacker International Airport, Columbus, Ohio. "Most C-130 bases can't fly all of their planes at once because of scheduled maintenance, required repairs, crew manning and other issues, but we can," said Lt. Col. Frank Amodeo, 911th Operations Group commander. "This is a testament to how Pittsburgh gets things done." The exercise began when eight C-130s departed the airfield here and headed for Rickenbacker International Airport in Columbus, Ohio. The purpose of the flight to Ohio was to simulate a ground re-supply mission. For the second half of the exercise, the C-130s broke into four formations of two and tactically flew back to Pennsylvania. The objective for this leg was to execute an air drop at a designated drop zone located near Burgettstown, Pa. As the planes flew near the target area, they regrouped into an eight-ship formation. Meanwhile, at the drop zone the ground crew was making their preparations. The area was marked and Airmen from 32nd Aerial Port Squadron called in and verified coordinates and wind speed. Once the aircraft reached the proper coordinates, loadmasters aboard the C-130s pushed their pallets out of the back of the planes. Parachutes attached to static lines opened and the cargo drifted to the ground. The planes toward the rear of the formation were able to watch the results and make their own adjustments. After all of the pallets came to rest, the ground crew started to work recovering the cargo. Parachutes were removed and folded. Pallets were loaded onto the backs of trucks and taken away. Senior Airman Ian Lowe, the 911th AW Safety information manager, was on the ground during the exercise. "It was very good to see the whole mission come together after all the hours and manpower put into the preparation," he said. "It was good practice and everything was completed without any incidents." It took a combined effort to accomplish this exercise according to Lt. Col. Kenneth Honaker, 911th Maintenance Group commander. He noted that when someone commended a member of the maintenance squadron, the Airman said it was all in a days work. "It may be all in a day's work," Colonel Honaker said, "but it was an extremely phenomenal group accomplishment. ... Not only was this a team effort of all the maintainers, but also teamwork between the operations group and the entire base." Col. Gordon H. Elwell, who assumed command of the 911th Airlift Wing on June 3, was on his first unit training exercise as a passenger. "I was extremely impressed with the professionalism of the aircrews and the can-do attitude of the aerial port and maintenance squadrons in getting the loads ready and recovering them after the drops," said Colonel Elwell. "It demonstrated the unity of the wing, the focus on the mission and the ability to face whatever challenges that may come in the future."