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Rogue 52: Mission to South Sudan

  • Published
  • By CPT Josh Miller
  • 302nd AW (AFRC), Peterson AFB Co. Deployed to 52nd EAS, Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti
Summer 2014 --  December 17, 2013: The crew and I met up for breakfast as usual and then were off to Operations for our morning coffee and an update of the flying schedule. However, this day was shaping up to be different than usual.

We were put into crew rest that afternoon and told to expect to be put on an ALFA alert status once crew rested. We never sit alert on ALFA; this was indeed different. With that information, we headed back to our living facilities and slept or read the news. That's when we first heard about the civil unrest in South Sudan and read one of many warnings posted by the US Embassy.

    Emergency Message for U.S. Citizens
    4 pm, December 16, 2013
    Continuing Security Concerns in Juba; Curfew Imposed

    The U.S. Embassy recognizes that there is a lull in violence in Juba; however, we continue to receive reports of sporadic gunfire in parts of the city, particularly near Juba University. We continue to urge American citizens to exercise caution at this time. If you are in a safe location, the Embassy recommends you remain where you are as travel in Juba is not currently safe. The U.S. Embassy will continue to closely monitor the security environment in South Sudan, with particular attention to Juba city and its immediate surroundings, and will advise U.S. citizens further if the security situation changes. We take this opportunity to reaffirm our earlier message that no political or military figures have taken refuge within the U.S. Embassy.

    Additionally, all citizens should take note that in response to the violence from this morning and yesterday evening, the government of the Republic of South Sudan has implemented a curfew from 6pm to 6am starting December 16th, 2013 "until further notice." The airport in Juba is also currently not operational and we continue to receive reports that the Nimule border is closed.

    You can stay in touch and get Embassy updates by checking the website of the U.S. Embassy in Juba. Upcoming programs and events are announced on our Facebook and Twitter pages ...


Our mission in Djibouti was fairly simple: conduct tactical airlift in an austere environment. Additionally, we could receive the on order task to deliver the East African Response Force (EARF) wherever they were needed, and then return to base. (The EARF is a group of 30-40 Army personnel trained to secure an embassy within hours of being notified.) In the weeks leading up to this, we had trained with the EARF, rehearsing loading and unloading their gear, and getting the troops familiar with riding in the back of the mighty Hercules. We soon learned that those drills would pay benefits.

As expected, we were alerted that next morning. With the short response time necessary for an ALFA alert, we dressed and headed to Operations quickly, where we were briefed on the intensity of the situation. Many innocent people were being killed in the South Sudan capital of Juba, and we were going to evacuate the embassy later that afternoon. We were to be the first of many aircraft involved, leading a quick response force into hostile South Sudan to deliver troops to protect the U.S. Embassy and exfiltrate innocent Americans.

We were the lead aircraft in the formation of an C-130H, two MC-130Ps, three CV-22s, and a few Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance platforms. We received our tasking, along with intel briefings, and began discussing the overt obstacles of the mission. There wasn't an airfield diagram for the field, so we used satellite imagery to figure out runway dimensions. To close the airfield, a tank was planted on the runway until a few hours earlier. We didn't have a clear taxi plan, as we didn't know where we would load the evacuees, so we came up with multiple courses of action and pressed out the door for an on-time takeoff.

On our way to Juba, we met everyone on the pre-briefed interplane frequency and discussed the finer details of what would happen once on the ground. We also finalized the details of our ground security plan with our three-man Pararescue (PJ) team. Landing was more challenging than expected because air traffic in the area was a mess. There was one person in the tower controlling center traffic for the entire country, as well as approach, tower, ground, and clearance delivery.

While dealing with air traffic is inherently busy and potentially hazardous, Juba was the busiest airspace my crew had ever experienced. Continuous crew resource management (CRM) was required to maintain safe separation from other aircraft and to assist the controller in sequencing ourselves into the airfield. Once on the ground, we found our way to the U.S. Embassy personnel and left the engines running while we downloaded the EARF and uploaded evacuees. As the first aircraft on the ground, we directed the other C-130H where to park and updated the marshaling plan.

It was pure chaos there. Local military personnel wearing many different uniforms wielded machetes or AK-47s and raced motorcycles with up to three men on them across taxiways and runways. It took the entire crew to identify and assess potential threats with so many people moving around on the ground. Threats were not limited to the ground; one of the taxiways originally planned for use appeared from the cockpit to be substandard and required a crewmember to deplane and assess the surface. That substandard taxiway meant that room to work on the ground was reduced by at least half. Our PJs did an excellent job of providing point security and assisting deplaned crewmembers with taxi planning, while the loadmasters tackled the tedious and chaotic manifestation of 75+ Embassy personnel.

As soon as we finished uploading, we closed the doors, sequenced ourselves into traffic, and headed to Nairobi, Kenya, where the U.S. Embassy was waiting to harbor the evacuees. A sense of pride came over me when I saw the faces of those we airlifted out of South Sudan. They were happy and relieved to be out of that very volatile country. I was also proud of how my crew performed under the intense pressure, uncertainty, and chaos of the day.

My crew (deployed to Djibouti from the 302nd Airlift Wing, Peterson AFB) consisted of Capt Chris Gurrola (Copilot), Maj Eric Elmore (Navigator), SSgt Daniel Greenberg (Flight Engineer), SSgt Aaron Swenson (Loadmaster), and A1C Zachary Maggard (Loadmaster). Every one of them, including the PJs and maintainers, performed in an excellent manner that day, ensuring a successful and--most of all, safe--mission.