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C-5 loadmaster discusses support for historic Arctic over-flight mission to Afghanistan

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol
  • Air Mobility Command Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  Staff Sgt. Angelo Dumanhog, a C-5 Galaxy loadmaster with the 9th Airlift Squadron here, was one of 14 crew members who flew on a mission that was the Air Force's first direct delivery airlift mission through the Arctic Circle from the United States to Afghanistan.

The flight, which took place on June 5 and 6, 2011, was aboard a C-5M Super Galaxy from Dover Air Force Base, Del., to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. The flight was the first time a U.S. Air Force plane flew this northern route from the U.S., over Canada and into the Arctic Circle, then back down through Russian and Kazakhstan airspace to Afghanistan.

U.S. Transportation Command and Air Mobility Command officials at Scott AFB, Ill., said the mission was a "proof of concept" flight that will help establish future sustainment operations in Afghanistan. AMC's 618th Tanker Airlift Control Center planners at Scott AFB tasked and built the mission plans for the effort. It is part of TACC's continuing effort to support and control airlift and air refueling missions around the globe.

To make the entire 15-plus hour flight to Afghanistan, the C-5M was refueled by a KC-135R Stratotanker from the New Hampshire Air National Guard's 157th Air Refueling Wing and Pease Air National Guard Base. The refueling took place over Northern Canada.

Sergeant Dumanhog said he was proud to support the mission.

"I felt privileged to be a part of something historic like this," said Sergeant Dumanhog, a 10-year Air Force veteran and a native of Lemoore, Calif. "This may have been an Air Force first, but more importantly it proved we can get the cargo to the warfighter even faster and that's what is most important.

On the mission, Sergeant Dumanhog was one of three loadmasters on the C-5M. To do their job on the Air Force's largest airlift airframe, they have to maintain a multitude of skills and abilities. According to his official Air Force job description for the 1A2X1 career field, loadmasters like Sergeant Mallory accomplish loading and off-loading aircraft functions and perform pre-flight and post-flight of aircraft and aircraft systems.

Loadmasters like Sergeant Dumanhog also perform aircrew functions, compute weight and balance and other mission specific qualification duties, and provide for safety and comfort of passengers and troops, and security of cargo, mail and baggage during flight, the job description states.

Loadmasters are also skilled in a variety of abilities. For example, in determining quantity of cargo and passengers or troops to be loaded and proper placement in aircraft, loadmasters compute load and cargo distribution. They also compute weight and balance, and determine the amount of weight to be placed in each compartment or at each station. To do this they consider factors such as fuel load, aircraft structural limits and emergency equipment required.

In the deployed environment, loadmasters like Sergeant Dumanhog are trained to conduct cargo and personnel airdrops according to directives. They are trained to attach extraction parachutes to cargo and platforms and inspect cargo and platforms, extraction systems and connect static lines. They also check tie-downs, parachutes, containers, suspension systems and extraction systems to ensure proper cargo extraction or release.

To do their job while deployed or at home station, loadmasters have to maintain a wide array of mandatory job knowledge, the job description states. They must know the types, capacities and configuration of transport aircraft, emergency equipment and in-flight emergency procedures, personal equipment and oxygen use, communications, current flying directives, interpreting diagrams, loading charts and technical publications, border agency clearance dispensing and preserving food aboard aircraft, and cargo restraint techniques.

"Being a loadmaster can be a demanding job," Sergeant Dumanhog said. "On a C-5, with all its cargo space, we have to know the right mix for the cargo we are taking on and off the plane. It's also difficult to be an aircrew member as you never really have a set schedule with your personal life. But I love what I do and like the impact we have in supporting the mission."

As for the Arctic mission, AMC officials said the historic flight was made possible by close diplomatic cooperation and culminates months of operational planning. It further illustrates the military's commitment to finding innovative new ways to operate with increasingly constrained resources. USTRANSCOM planners said this flight is just the beginning of understanding new ways to strengthen the northern corridor for direct delivery missions to the deployed theater.