Air Force Reserve C-130 unit supports diverse deployed ops

Published Aug. 11, 2010
By Tech. Sgt. Kelly White
379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- There's practically no deployed mobility mission Southwest Asia's 746th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron isn't ready for, be it delivering life-saving supplies and equipment to ground forces in Afghanistan, transferring bombs to be put on target, providing aeromedical evacuation across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility or carrying fallen warriors on their final journeys home.

"We're the do-it-all squadron," said 1st Lt. Mark Bost, 746th EAS pilot. "Our C-130s are so versatile. We can land at an international airport with 12 or 13,000 feet or a 3,000-foot dirt strip field that's not paved. We go anywhere, anytime and we can land in vital places a C-17 or C-5 can't. That's what makes our mission so unique."

The C-130 Hercules can accommodate a wide variety of oversized cargo, including everything from utility helicopters and six-wheeled armored vehicles, to standard palletized cargo and military personnel. In an aerial delivery role, it can airdrop loads up to 42,000 pounds or use its rugged landing gear to land and deliver cargo on rough, dirt strips.

The C-130's flexible design also enables it to be configured for many different missions, allowing one aircraft to perform the role of many.

"There are a million-and-one different configurations for this airplane," said Senior Master Sgt. Steve Tarrance, 746th EAS loadmaster. "Here we do mainly air-land -- taking supplies and people from (this base) to a forward location in theater.

"Most strategic airlift airplanes can't reconfigure the way we can. We can reconfigure quickly in the air, so the C-130 can accomplish any mission at any time with all the stuff we've got on board the airplane."

Because of this flexibility, the C-130 is in demand, and the unit currently performing the 746th EAS C-130 mission -- the 357th Airlift Squadron, a Reserve unit deployed from the 908th Airlift Wing at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala. -- strives to satisfy requirements.

"I am constantly amazed by the outstanding professional performance by this team of 'Citizen Airmen,'" said Lt. Col. Scott "Snip" Hayes, 746th EAS commander. "Almost 600 combat sorties a month, carrying more than 3,000 passengers and approximately 500 tons of cargo illustrate the constant demand for our unique skills."

None of these missions, however, could take off from the flightline without another vital team within the squadron.

"The challenge of generating these aircraft falls directly on the shoulders of our fellow reservists in the 908th Aircraft Maintenance Unit," the colonel said. "They are an exceptional group of skilled maintainers and we could not meet our Air Tasking Orders without them."

Sergeant Tarrance agreed.

"We couldn't do the mission without the maintainers. Those guys are champs," he said. "What I've got to do is rough, but they work out here for 12 hours a day in the heat. We couldn't ask for a better group of guys, either. I trust them implicitly."

This kind of trust extends throughout the Airmen deployed here from the 908th AW.

"As a Reserve unit, we're like a big family," said Sergeant Tarrance. "Because we've know each other for years and we're around each other so much, we can sense when there's something wrong. We really know what each one needs to get through the day."

Sometimes the difficulty getting through the day is because the mission is physically exhausting, other times it's more mental and emotional, he said.

"Obviously, the most physically difficult missions are those when there are multiple configuration changes on the airplane or when it's hot and you have to do engine-running on-loads and off-loads because of the heat," he said.

"The mentally difficult ones are the aeromedical evacuations and the human remains," Sergeant Tarrance explained. "Somebody's died or been injured and they're on their journey back home - you feel their pain and the family's pain. You wonder if you know something the family doesn't know."

Sergeant Tarrance said he also feels invested in his mission because prior to serving 18 years in the Air Force Reserve, he served 12 years as an Army Soldier.

"I feel for those guys and it gives me a personal sense of satisfaction -- especially when I can bring things like mail or milk to the guys who aren't getting it down range," he said.

Sergeant Tarrance supports deployed missions from a dual perspective.

"I hate being away from my wife and kids," he said. "I'm missing my 25th wedding anniversary and my daughter graduates high school and starts college while I'm gone. But, my wife and I talked about this and we both feel I can contribute more here than at home. The sense of satisfaction I get from doing this job is my reward for all that."

From his "Citizen" perspective, Sergeant Tarrance said all Americans need to support their troops.

"No matter what political views people have, they should remember there are American troops in danger right now, and we all -- as one nation -- ought to support those troops, whether you agree with the political objectives or not. There are people fighting and dying right now over here so we don't have to fight these wars on our own soil, like we did on Sept. 11."