Travis’ first mass launch a success

Published Jan. 5, 2010
By 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The 60th and 349th Air Mobility Wings at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., conducted the base's first mass launch of nine aircraft Dec. 21.

Base officials said the Total Force launch effort was an opportunity for operations, maintenance and support personnel to train together on a larger scale than normal.

Travis routinely launches three-ship KC-10A Extender formations, but this was the first time the base launched three Major Weapon Systems in rapid succession.

Although not part of the nine-ship package, base officials said to make the event even more symbolic of the airpower that Travis generates on a daily basis, a Navy E-6B TACAMO aircraft - also stationed at Travis - led the charge. This was followed by nine 60th and 349th AMW aircraft, including six KC-10As, two C-17A GlobeMaster IIIs, a C-5B Galaxy, and a transient Air Force Reserve Command KC-135R Stratotanker from Grissom Air Reserve Base, Ind., completed the push.

In less than 15 minutes, Team Travis launched 11 aircraft with a gross weight exceeding 4.6 million pounds.

"Once airborne, the nine Travis-assigned aircraft separated to accomplish normal tactical and air-refueling activities," said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Cooper, 60th Operations Support Squadron commander.

Dubbed Operation TEAM EFFORT, the mass launch was a huge success, according to base officials.

"The launch was the equivalent of the world's third largest tanker fleet -- behind Russia and the United Kingdom -- going airborne at the same time," said Lt. Col. Brian Lindsey, 60th AMW Director of Staff. "In addition to that, the launch provided more airlift capability than 25 percent of the world's air forces."

"From the ops side, we have never launched this many aircraft at once, and it has been more than 10 years since we launched a six-ship formation of KC-10s," said Col. Anthony Butters, 60th Operations Group commander. "More than 300 currency/training events were accomplished by crewmembers, along with flight evaluations."

The mission was an opportunity for many younger Airmen to receive valuable training.

"We were able to expose the Airmen who make the flights possible -- maintainers, air traffic controllers, aircrew flight equipment -- to what happens in the air during takeoff, air refueling, approaches, etc., and [help them] understand what flight crews experience so they can do their jobs even better," said Colonel Butters. "Some of the older crewmembers have flown in this size of a formation, but the contingencies we are supporting now don't require this type of formation.

"None of our younger crewmembers have seen or flown in a six-ship or larger formation," added the colonel. "My goal was to expose these younger crewmembers to this in a controlled training environment, with experienced crewmembers on board, so if they're called upon to perform it in the future, it won't be the first time they have seen it."

Despite some cloudy weather and a little rain, the mission was a tremendous success, according to Col. Carol Johnson, 60th Maintenance Group commander.

"The MXG relied upon all available AFSCs to carry out a focused production team maintenance plan that enabled nine aircraft to get airborne on time and then land 100 percent mission effective," said Colonel Johnson. "The mission was more successful than we could have hoped. Getting three diverse weapons systems with nine aircraft airborne in an 11-minute window is a herculean effort by all personnel involved.

"The amazing part was even with extremely low ceilings and visibility, in the rain, maintainers were able to get the aircraft ready to fly and the aircrews executed the mission flawlessly in extremely challenging conditions," the colonel added. "We obviously hoped for a cloudless, sunny day, but we proved we can execute the mission regardless of what the weather is. It was definitely a display of airpower that only Travis can organically perform."

The 60th AMW is the largest air mobility organization in Air Mobility Command. The 60th AMW's Reserve partner, the 349th AMW, is also the largest Reserve Associate Wing in the Air Force Reserves. Together, the wings operate and maintain C-5 and C-17 transport aircraft along with KC-10 aerial refueling aircraft; all of which can fly peacetime and combat support missions anywhere in the world as directed by the Department of Defense.

"This launch was indicative of the massive mobility mission Travis executes every day," said Col. James Vechery, 60th AMW commander. "It was a Joint, Total Force effort expertly executed by the wonderful Airmen of Team Travis ... now that's Air Power!"