Little Rock C-130 unit puts the 'legacy' in legacy training

Published Jan. 19, 2011
By Airman 1st Class Rochelle Sollars
19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. -- With a long, rich heritage, it seems the 62nd Airlift Squadron is a perfect fit to be training C-130E and H aircrews, considering the legacy of the C-130 Hercules itself.

"It's a squadron fraught with tradition beginning in World War II as an operational squadron all the way through preparing our newest Combat Airlifters to fly, fight and win in current contingency operations," said Lt. Col. Charles Brown, Jr., 62nd AS commander.

The squadron is the world's largest C-130 formal training unit, or FTU, and conducts 56 missions a week, training 1,370 combat airlifters annually across four crew positions destined for worldwide deployment locations.

"The 62nd is the center of excellence for legacy C-130E and H training for not only our own Department of Defense services, but for our international allies as well," said Colonel Brown. "Any C-130 operation globally can trace its roots back to the 62nd Airlift Squadron."

The 62nd AS was originally constituted as the 62nd Troop Carrier Squadron Nov. 27, 1942, and was activated on Dec. 5, 1942. During this time, the principal aircraft flown was the C-47 from 1943 to 1946.

"The C-47 was the genesis of combat airlift for the entire C-130 community and the first aircraft the newly formed 62nd Tactical Airlift Squadron was assigned to fly out of Saltby Field, England, just prior to the invasion of France in World War II during D-Day operations," said Colonel Brown.

"It's heralded by the aircrews who flew [the C-47] as evidenced by our World War II veterans at this last year's "Yacht Club Reunion" where members of the original 62nd TCS gathered to retell stories of past and compare combat experiences with the newest generation of Combat Airlifters assigned to the 62nd," he added.

In 2010, the 62nd AS, also known as the Jodies, spearheaded, contracted and assembled the newest base static display, a C-47, which was a $1.3 million project from beginning to end.

"Hearing that a C-47 would take its stance in Heritage Park brought out pride, smiles and even some emotion from new and old airlifters alike ... it marks a defined beginning of the way the U.S. would bring the fight to the enemy," said Colonel Brown.

C-130s have been in production since 1959 and were being delivered to bases beginning in December of that year. The Jodies have been flying C-130s as their primary aircraft since then. Today, the squadron uses 20 aircraft to maintain flight currency and training to 156 aircrew members.

"I have personally been a student in the 62nd three times and it has always been a classy, highly motivated and professional collection of instructors and administrators," said Colonel Brown. "It's here that the newest Combat Airlifters get their first impression of how C-130 operations should be conducted."

In early 2007, the 62nd AS worked with their sister squadron, the 53rd Airlift Squadron, to rotate student classes to even out the student load for each training squadron. In December, 2007, the 53rd AS was no longer a training squadron and its instructors moved to the 62nd AS to continue training skilled C-130 aircrews.

"We had a larger instructor pool when the two Air Education and Training Command squadrons combined into the 62nd and all of the students were now trained in a single squadron instead of splitting them between two," said Master Sgt. Joey Thomas, 62nd Airlift Squadron, flight chief of A Flight. "All of the bases most experienced instructors were now combined into one training squadron."

Sergeant Thomas, a former member of the 53rd AS added, "Combining the squadrons preserved the proud history and heritage of the 62nd. I'm very proud to be a Jodie! "

Like every squadron, the 62nd AS faces challenges they need to overcome on a daily basis. Colonel Brown said the greatest challenge is fulfilling graduation rates with one of the oldest aircraft in the Air Force inventory.

"We have aircraft from 1961 and 1962 flying three to four times a week with an extremely high effectiveness rate," he said. "We're only able to achieve this success because of the professionalism and tenacity of our maintenance brothers in the 314th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron."

To better gauge the quality of their training, the Jodies established a formal training unit roadshow, that offered the opportunity for customer feedback on their graduates and helped them recruit new instructors.

"An FTU roadshow is a two-way street. On one hand, we're going out to get a sample of whether our active duty and ARC customers are happy with the product we're delivering to them in all four crew positions. They provide us real-time feedback of what they would like to see modified in the syllabus to more accurately employ in today's dynamic global environment enabling us to come back and revise the way we train," Colonel Brown said.

"On the other hand, we get an opportunity to provide them feedback as to the challenges we're facing in the only active duty legacy FTU. We're currently undergoing a Total Force Integration initiative in which we're retiring our 1960's E models and replacing them with Air Force Reserve Command and Air National Guard 1980s (era) H2 aircraft. The planes will remain assigned to their Reserve or Guard units and rotate in and out to keep a steady state of 18 aircraft here for training purposes," the colonel said. "It's a very positive change and will only make the C-130 community more effective at home and abroad and we take an opportunity like the FTU Roadshow to highlight initiatives such as this."

The roadshow in 2010 took the squadron to Savannah, Ga., Pope Air Force Base, N.C., Pittsburgh, Pa., Niagra Falls, N.Y., and Schenectady, N.Y.

Colonel Brown said he's honored to lead the men and women who keep the Jodies' tradition and heritage alive.

"'Jodies Rule the Rock!'...that is our calling card."