Total-force team airdrops 10-ton artillery load

A joint Army and Air Force team loads a 10-ton pallet aboard a C-130 Hercules aircraft Aug. 8 at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. The total force aicrew from the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron delivered an M198 howitzer artillery piece to a forward operating base in Afghanistan. The 36-foot long cannon will give troops the ability to send high-explosive shells at insurgents threatening the peace and security of the Paktika Province. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Michael B. Keller)

Total-force team airdrops 10-ton artillery load

Senior Master Sgt. Kevin Gifford loads a 10-ton pallet aboard a C-130 Hercules Aug. 8 at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. Sergeant Gifford and an Army and Air Force aircrew from the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron delivered an M198 howitzer artillery piece to a forward operating base in Afghanistan. The 36-foot long cannon will give troops the ability to send high-explosive shells at insurgents threatening the peace and security of the Paktika Province. Sergeant Gifford is a New York Air National Guard member from Schenectady, N.Y. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Michael B. Keller)

Total Force team airdrops 10-ton artillery load

Published Sept. 3, 2009
By Staff Sgt. J.G. Buzanowski
U.S. Air Forces Central combat camera team

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan -- A team of Bagram Airfield Airmen airdropped an M198 artillery piece to an Army unit in a remote Eastern-part of Afghanistan Aug. 8.

New York, Ohio and Missouri Air Guard members joined with Reservists and active-duty Airmen to form the total-force aircrew that loaded and delivered the 155 mm Howitzer that weighed more than 10 tons onto a C-130 Hercules from the Missouri Air National Guard.

"Five good chutes, that's all we could ask for," said Senior Master Sgt. Kevin Gifford, a joint airdrop inspector from the New York ANG. "It means the Army loaders did their job right and we did our job right and everything went according to plan."

Sergeant Gifford was onboard the C-130 to ensure the enormous cargo pallet would exit the aircraft properly and safely. He and the loadmasters -- Missouri Air National Guard members Staff Sgt. Ed Huff and Master Sgt. Dennis Mowry -- loaded the Howitzer from one location and airdropped it to the crew waiting below.

"Anything the guys on the ground need to do their job we get to them - beans, bullets and sometimes artillery pieces," said Sergeant Mowry, a 34-year Air Force veteran. "This was just our way of helping out in the war. Now that the Soldiers have that Howitzer, they have something bigger to shoot back with."

The crew of the 36-foot long cannon will have the ability to send high-explosive shells at insurgents threatening the peace and security of the Paktika Province.

Airlift is an essential part of operations in Afghanistan, where the mountainous region can delay or even prevent delivery convoys, said Lt. Col. Dave Koltermann, the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron commander.

"Airlift gives us the ability to get cargo anywhere on the planet," said Colonel Koltermann, a New York Air National Guard member. "It gets troops off the roads and rather than risking a convoy, we can fly cargo anywhere it needs to go. This was a joint effort by the Army and Air Force with total force assets all working seamlessly to help the troops on the ground."