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Air Force birthday: Mobility history follows service's path of success

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol
  • Air Mobility Command Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  When the Air Force became a separate service on Sept. 18, 1947, what's known today as Air Mobility Command had started along with it.

In September 1947, the development of a military transport component to the fledgling Air Force was still under discussion, according to the AMC History Office book, "Anything, Anywhere, Anytime: An Illustrated History of the Military Airlift Command, 1941-1991." At that time, the U.S. Army had Air Transportation Command and the Navy had the Naval Air Transport Service.

In July 1947, President Harry Truman established the Air Policy Commission -- also known as the Finletter Commission -- to look into how the mobility air forces of the day were doing business. By December 1947, the commission made its recommendation for a single military air transport service.

May 1948 saw Secretary of Defense James V. Forrestal sign a memorandum creating the Military Air Transport Service. Through the creation of MATS, the Air Force consolidated ATC and NATS elements creating the roots of Air Mobility Command today.

"The combination of strategic airlift came none too soon," the book shows. "Less than a month after the Military Air Transport Service was created, the Soviet Union blockaded land and water routes to West Berlin, and the United States and her allies inaugurated what would become a historic airlift to resupply the city."

That historic airlift effort was the Berlin Airlift, during which there where 279,111 flights carrying 2,234,257 tons of cargo to help the people of Berlin. According to the history, MATS was not in direct control of the airlift effort but was very much involved. "The command trained replacement aircrews, moved aircraft, furnished transatlantic airlift, and coordinated maintenance, all the time trying to find enough planes to continue supporting its regular customers."

The Berlin Airlift effort carried into the Korean conflict of where MATS aircraft flew 210,343 sorties, carried 391,763 tons of cargo, more than 2.6 million passengers and 310,000 patients. During the Korean campaign, more than 15,000 tons of supplies and equipment was also airdropped to troops on the ground. In essence, in addition to airlift, the Korean War further developed tactics, techniques and procedures in aeromedical evacuation and airdrop capabilities and would redefine how the mobility air force does business.

In 1966, MATS became Military Airlift Command. At the same time, operations in the Vietnam War were in full swing. It was a time that saw a convergence of the older propeller driven airlifters, such as the C-97 Stratofreighters and C-124 Globemaster, to the jet driven C-141 Starlifter and C-5 Galaxy. The difference in hauling capabilities were noted in the history.

"The C-124, which had previously formed the backbone of MATS' airlift force, required 95 hours to fly 50,000 pounds from Travis Air Force Base, Calif., to Saigon and back," the book shows. "With a standard mission utilization rate of 6.7 hours per day, a C-124 made the trip in 13 days. In contrast, the Starlifter could carry 57,500 pounds of cargo 4,000 miles or 20,000 pounds non-stop from Travis to Southeast Asia at 431 knots."

The Vietnam War also expanded MAC's mission to include both intertheater and intratheater airlift. During this conflict, "the principal role of airlift changed dramatically, shifting also to a greater emphasis on direct combat support."

Fast forward to operations of the modern AMC era, which began in June 1992, and the contributions of the air refueling can also be noted. Take for example Operation Allied Force in 1999.

In the AMC History book, "Poised for The New Millennium: The Global Reach of the Air Mobility Command," it shows that during the 78-day conflict that saw over 175 U.S. tankers contribute to the campaign delivering more than 355.8 million pounds of fuel to more than 23,000 receivers. "On occasion during the conflict, some tankers were in harm's way and had to change course due to the proximity of enemy aircraft."

During the Kosovo conflict, the joint forces air component commander said "tankers turned the tide of the war," the Millennium book states.

In the current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, mobility mission continues to maximize the Air Force's global reach capabilities in airlift, airdrop, air refueling and special missions. As an example, a daily airpower summary from mid-August from Air Forces Central-Forward in Southwest Asia described the level of mobility support to today's warfighter.

"Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft and C-17 Globemaster IIIs provided intra-theater heavy airlift, helping to sustain operations throughout Afghanistan, Iraq and the Horn of Africa," the report said. "Approximately 150 airlift sorties were flown, 675 short tons of cargo were delivered and about 2,800 passengers were transported. This included about 165,000 pounds of aerial resupply cargo dropped over Afghanistan."

Additionally, the report said, "Air Force tanker crews flew 45 sorties and off-loaded approximately 2.6 million pounds of fuel to 172 receiving aircraft."

As future Air Force birthdays come to pass, the successes are sure to continue as AMC continues its mission "to provide global air mobility...right effects, right place, right time."