C-130 loadmaster, deployed from Little Rock, supports deployed airlift, airdrop operations

Published Oct. 13, 2010
By Master Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol
Air Mobility Command Public Affairs

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- She has one of the busiest jobs in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility -- supporting combat airlift operations. From her deployed location at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, Airman 1st Class Rachael Orazine flies regularly on combat airlift and airdrop missions for Operation Enduring Freedom.

Airman Orazine is a loadmaster in a C-130J Hercules -- the Air Force's newest version in the C-130 series of aircraft. She is deployed with the 772nd Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, 451st Air Expeditionary Wing, at Kandahar, and she is deployed from Air Mobility Command's 41st Airlift Squadron, 19th Airlift Wing, at Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark. Her hometown is Gulfport, Miss.

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 her official Air Force job description for the 1A2X1 career field, loadmasters like Airman Orazine 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 Airman Orazine 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 Airman Orazine 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 Airman Orazine 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 a news report from 451st AEW Public Affairs Oct. 9 from Senior Airman Melisa B. White, Airman Orazine is proud to do her job while deployed and she knows she's doing exactly what she always planned to do. "I knew I wanted to fly when I joined the Air Force," Airman Orazine said in the Kandahar report. "When most people deploy, they stay in one place, but we go to a lot of different places."

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.)