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Mobility Airman profile: Dyess C-130 pilot supports airlift U.S. Central Command airlift ops in Southwest Asia

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol
  • Air Mobility Command Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  In the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, there are a lot of airlift needs. To get the job done, Airmen like 1st Lt. Daniel Oldham are deployed to get the "beans and bullets" to the deployed troops who need them.

Lieutenant Oldham is a C-130 Hercules pilot deployed to the 386th Expeditionary Operations Group at a non-disclosed base in Southwest Asia. He is deployed from the 40th Airlift Squadron, 317th Airlift Group, at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas.

Whether it's an airdrop or a combat airlift mission bringing cargo and people to a forward operating base in Afghanistan, for example, Lieutenant Oldham is fulfilling the job he's been trained to complete. According to his official Air Force job description for an airlift pilot, he is required to "pilot airlift aircraft and command crews to accomplish airlift, training and other missions."

To fulfill his work as an airlift pilot, Captain Brown reviews mission tasking, intelligence and weather information, the job description states. He supervises mission planning, preparation, filing a flight plan and crew briefings and he ensures the aircraft is pre-flighted, inspected, loaded, equipped and manned for each mission.

Airmen like Captain Brown also pilot aircraft and command crews. They are trained to operate aircraft controls and equipment and perform, supervise, or direct navigation, in-flight refueling, and cargo and passenger delivery. They also ensure the operational readiness of the crew by conducting or supervising mission specific training and they develop plans and policies, monitor operations and assist commanders with functions related to airlift operations, the job descript shows.

Airmen like Captain Brown also have to maintain mandatory job knowledge in the theory of flight, air navigation, meteorology, flying directives, aircraft operating procedures and mission tactics.

At his home station with the 317th Airlift Group, Lieutenant Oldham part of a group that is comprised of the 39th and 40th Airlift Squadrons, 317th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, 317th Maintenance Squadron, 317th OSS and the 317th Maintenance Operations Squadron. The group comes under the operational control of 18th Air Force and Air Mobility Command at Scott AFB.

With the 386th AEW, Lieutenant Oldham supports a wing that is "the primary tactical airlift hub for re-supply missions supporting coalition operations in Iraq and provides combat service support to land component forces throughout the Persian Gulf Region and Iraq," the 386th AEW Web site shows. Overall the wing supports Operation New Dawn, the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, and Operation Enduring Freedom.

(Senior Airman Cynthia Spalding, 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs, contributed to this report.)