Georgia native, deployed from Little Rock, manages deployed airlift ops as C-130 loadmaster

Published Oct. 18, 2010
By Master Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol
Air Mobility Command Public Affairs

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- According to history, Staff Sgt. Thomas "T.J." Grover's hometown of Columbus, Ga., was established in 1828 as a trading post to strengthen the western border of Georgia.

Additionally, as the northern-most navigable point on the Chattahoochee River from the Gulf of Mexico, Columbus became a center of shipping and military manufacturing, the history states. It may be because of the city's history of moving cargo and support for the military that drove Sergeant to become a C-130 Hercules loadmaster.

Currently deployed with the 772nd Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, 451st Air Expeditionary Wing, at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, Sergeant Glover supports airlift and airdrop operations for Operation Enduring Freedom and throughout the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. In a recent 451st AEW Public Affairs news story by Senior Airman Melisa B. White on Oct. 9, Sergeant Glover described his deployed work.

"Every day is different because we never know what to expect," Sergeant Grover said in the report. "With a desk job, people know they're going to be at a computer or doing paperwork for several hours, but we always come in to something different. We find out what our cargo is, we come up with a plan to put it on the plane and then we move it to where it needs to go."

Sergeant Grover is deployed from Air Mobility Command's 41st Airlift Squadron, 19th Airlift Wing, at Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark. The 19th AW provides the Department of Defense with "the largest C-130 fleet in the world," according to the Little Rock AFB Web site. As part of AMC's Global Reach capability, the wing's tasking requirements range from supplying humanitarian airlift relief to victims of disasters, to airdropping supplies and troops into the heart of contingency operations in hostile areas.

According to his official Air Force job description for the 1A2X1 career field, loadmasters like Sergeant Grover accomplish loading and off-loading aircraft functions and perform pre-flight and post-flight of aircraft and aircraft systems. They also perform loadmaster 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.

Loadmasters like Sergeant Grover are skilled in a variety of abilities, the job description states. 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.

C-130 loadmasters also accomplish the initial pre-flight of aircraft according to flight manuals. They pre-flight specific aircraft systems such as restraint rail and airdrop equipment. They also pre-flight aerospace ground equipment and apply external power to the aircraft. Additionally, they perform in-flight and special mission specific duties as required.

When supervising aircraft loading and off-loading, loadmasters like Sergeant Grover ensure cargo and passengers are loaded according to load distribution plan. They direct application of restraint devices such as restraint rails, straps, chains and nets to prevent shifting during flight. They also check cargo, passengers and troops against manifests, ensure availability of fleet service equipment and brief passengers and troops on use of seat belts, facilities and border clearance requirements.

In the deployed environment, loadmasters like Sergeant Grover 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.

In the 451st AEW report, it showed that in September, the 772nd EAS flew nearly 90 missions, generating about 300 sorties. They also moved more than 2 million pounds of cargo, 3,261 passengers, and completed nine airdrop missions.

Sergeant Grover said in the report that he is proud of his unit's direct support for the deployed mission. "It's very humbling to have such an impact on the war effort," Sergeant Grover said in the story. "Especially when you hear about people on the ground who have close to nothing, and we make their day if we even fly in something that's bare-minimum, but it's still a step above what they had. These guys at forward operating bases aren't getting stuff because they want it -- they get it because they need it."

According to the 451st AEW Web site, the wing provides a "persistent and powerful airpower presence" in the Afghanistan area of operations. 451st AEW Airmen provide "world-class tactical airlift, close air support, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, command and control, airborne datalink, combat search and rescue, casualty evacuation and aeromedical evacuation capabilities whenever and wherever needed."

(Senior Airman Melisa B. White, 451st AEW Public Affairs, contributed to this story.)