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777th EAS removes 20,000 vehicles from roads

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Rochelle Sollars
  • 19th Airlift Wing, Public Affairs
LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. --  "It's the mighty power of the Air Force mobility machine that enables the U.S. to be able to operate in austere locations like Iraq and Afghanistan," said Lt. Col. Nathan Allerheiligen, 777th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron commander.

The 777th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron proved this in the month of May by surpassing the cumulative mark of 20,000 vehicles off the roads in theater.

"The Air Force is all in. The earliest legacies of air power come from our ability to haul men, material and equipment over vast distances, said Colonel Allerheiligen. "The heritage started through great operations like 'The Hump' and the Berlin Airlift. [They] are continued on today through the efforts of Airmen who are delivering the goods all over the world, but especially within Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom theaters."

According to Colonel Allerheiligen, the 777th EAS posted another record setting month, which saw the largest single calendar month total for passengers and sorties.

"The Dragon Warriors hauled over 15,000 passengers and logged nearly 1,000 effective sorties in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom," said Colonel Allerheiligen. "Needless to say, I'm very proud of our operators and our adopted maintainers who have worked so diligently to hack the mish."

Through the efforts of Airmen, C-130 aircraft create a safer means of transportation for all branches of the military in theater.

"The No. 1 hostile threat to lives of Soldiers is road-side bombs, improvised explosive devices. Our adversary has learned how to create, hide and detonate sinister devices that can harm our Soldiers traveling the roads of Iraq," said Colonel Allerheiligen. "By reducing the convoys, we reduce the number of vehicles, and thus, precious lives, who are exposed to those dangerous weapons."

"Twenty-thousand [vehicles] is significant because each and every vehicle we take off of IED-laden roads in Iraq and Afghanistan lowers the risk to Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines on the ground performing convoy duty," said Col. David Kasberg, 19th Operations Group commander. "By airlifting cargo and passengers, we also take a target away from the enemy, which undermines their information operations campaign."

According to Colonel Allerheiligen, a typical bus carries about 40 people, without luggage, but a C-130 can carry 80 military personnel with their luggage. A flat-bed truck may carry four to six pallets, which is the same as a C-130's cargo capacity.

"Thus, every mission is another opportunity to remove several trucks from having to carry stuff on the ground," he said. "Occasionally, we actually carry the smaller trucks themselves."

The combat airlift mission is accomplished everyday through teamwork of the Air Force's fully trained and proficient crews.

"The teamwork required to make these missions happen is incredible. Not only does it take great synergy between the flight crew and the aircraft maintainers, it requires coordination with base support functions, command and control agencies and joint and coalition partners and multiple Joint and major command staffs," said Colonel Kasberg. "It really takes the entire DoD team, military and civilian, to make every sortie effective."

Every training sortie conducted at Little Rock Air Force Base, is one more combat airlifter ready to take convoys off the roads in theater.

"Combat resupply, whether through airland or airdrop operations, is what we in the air mobility world live for," said Colonel Kasberg. "It isn't as glamorous as putting bombs on target, but effect of getting the right cargo and passengers to the right destination on time every time is what enables the U.S. and its coalition partners to be successful."