Naval affairs, Base moves Navy SEAL cargo during off-site training mission

Published Aug. 23, 2010
By Staff Sgt. Patrick A. Harrower
60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Travis Air force Base Airmen participated in a unique, quick response mission that had them loading U.S. Navy SEAL cargo on a refueler and took them to North Island Naval Base in San Diego and Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii.

To accomplish the mission, the 60th Operations Group paired with the 615th Contingency Response Wing and coordinated with the U.S. Navy. A SEAL team needed Air Force support with the transport of vehicles and cargo from North Island Naval Base to Hickam AFB. The 60th Operations Support Squadron used the mission as an opportunity to perform an off-site training mission for the KC-10 Extender Formal Training Unit.

"It was good training for the junior servicemembers," said Master Sgt. Luis Acevedo, 60th OG KC-10 flight examiner. "They learned how to coordinate with other wing agencies and even with other branches of the military to accomplish the mission."

Students from the KC-10 FTU were able to receive training while Sergeant Acevedo evaluated the instructors training them.

Another unique feature of the training mission was the crew did not take cargo, nor did they take their own support equipment. They needed the room for the SEAL team's 33,000 pounds of cargo and two vehicles that needed to be loaded from the naval base.

"We usually take our own support equipment, but this was a very quick response OST," said Staff Sgt. Matthew Smith, 660th Air Maintenance Squadron flying crew chief. "We had to depend on the equipment that the Navy had on their flightline at North Island."

A small group of Airmen from the 615th CRW that had the experience necessary to build the SEAL team's cargo and pack their vehicles, was tasked to build the pallets and load the aircraft. The team found the cargo to be significantly different from the KC-10's usual cargo as the cargo containers were much larger than ones used at Travis and vehicles are not typically loaded on the platform at all.

"We had limited vehicle capabilities, so we had to build the cargo on the loading vehicles and then load it onto the aircraft. Normally we would build up all the cargo, then load it," said Staff Sgt. Tracy Frink, 571st Global Mobility Squadron mobility aerial port flight supervisor. "It's rare that this airframe carries vehicles. The primary mission of the KC-10 is to refuel, not to move cargo."

The 615th CRW Airmen spent more than 10 hours building and loading the cargo, and once it was on the plane the 60th OSS FTU took over and trained the students on proper techniques to secure the cargo within the aircraft bay.

"Training like this was very helpful," Sergeant Acevedo said. "It's not every day that students from the FTU get to load vehicles and cargo like this onto a refueling plane."

The 660th AMXS also supported the mission by performing required maintenance and inspections on the aircraft. While the FTU was training and the CRW were packing, flying crew chiefs made sure the aircraft was ready to go.

"We do our training at home station," said Sergeant Smith. "So when the time comes, we can do our job to facilitate their training."

Although the main goal of this joint wing venture was to help the U.S. Navy, Airmen from Team Travis took advantage of every opportunity to accomplish valuable training.