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Dover 'Night Riders' deactivated April 1

  • Published
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  Shortly after midnight April 1, Lt. Col. Don Gresham, 436th Operations Group chief of special capabilities, brought Dover's C-5 Special Operations Low Level II mission to an end.

A crowd of more than 150 people looked on as Colonel Gresham handed the 436th OGS guidon to Col. Jeffrey Brake, Assistant Deputy Director for Special Operations, Joint Staff.

"You can take great pride in your program. It had a profound effect on the missions you supported," said Colonel Brake after the deactivation.

Colonel Gresham described the program as having "carved a niche" in the world of special operations over its 22-year span. "We've added to their kit bag with capabilities only the C-5 can provide," he said.

The crews here trained in a variety of tactical procedures, specializing in blacked-out operations under night vision goggles (including air refueling). To support the demands of this dangerous mission, the crewmembers were assigned to "hard crews" - always flying with the same people and rarely substituting a crew position. The practice allowed crewmembers to anticipate one another's actions at decisive moments.

In addition to special practices and procedures, the program employed the expertise of personnel not normally involved in day-to-day C-5 operations: Navigators allowed for precise timing during operations as well as heavy equipment and personnel airdrop, and fuels troops conducted hot refueling of aircraft, primarily helicopters, in forward deployed locations.

The crews trained to rapidly on- and off-load troop and equipment packages in combat zones, and according to Colonel Gresham, it was impossible to ignore the weight of responsibility.

"You get an attachment to those folks in the troop compartment that you're delivering into harm's way," he said.

The gravity of the SOLL II mission was brought into sharp focus simply based on its status as a "highest-level military asset."

"We do a chairman-directed mission. That was a huge motivational factor for our guys," said Colonel Gresham. "It gave them a sense of pride."

This isn't the first generation of the SOLL II program, and it has not gone away with the deactivation of the C-5 version - it recently transitioned into the hands of C-17 Globemaster crews at Charleston AFB, S.C.

Colonel Gresham, in his remarks, challenged the C-17 crews to "maintain the same level of excellence that both the C-141 and C-5 have established throughout their rich histories."

Col. William Bender, 437th Operations Group commander at Charleston AFB, will inherit the program. "I understand this occasion comes with heavy hearts. Your shoes will be hard to fill," said Colonel Bender.

Although the program's support for many missions remains classified, SOLL II crews played a vital role in major operations spanning two decades of service beginning in 1982. Among many others, they contributed to Operations Just Cause, Desert Shield/Storm, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.