C-130 Hercules

by Martin W Bowman

  C-130Js will unload personnel or cargo from the back ramp, then take off again and head to the next stop on their journey. A tour can last up to several weeks before returning to Ramstein.

  But for all the missions the 86th performs, one of them tops all - air evacuation of wounded soldiers on the ground, said Colonel Raymond E. Briggs, commander of the 86th Maintenance Croup.

  ‘We might be down in Africa hauling stuff or doing a mission. All of a sudden, we have to do an air evac,’ he explained. ‘We have to get them out.’

  The new ‘J’ models added length to the cargo hold; it carries more weight, takes off quicker and lands shorter with reverse propeller capability. Its cargo compartment is designed for quick reconfiguration, making it an ideal platform for anything from palletised-cargo movement to emergency medical evacuation. For the men and women of the 86th Air Wing, aeromedical evacuation is considered job No. 1.

  The new airlift unit began flying with C-130E aircraft and at one point, had nineteen of the type in its fleet. The legacy warhorses, powered by Rolls-Royce T56 engines, performed well for years. The new C-130J aircraft began arriving at the 86th in 2009 - and the bigger, faster, stronger Super Hercules brought a definite upgrade in power. Its four Rolls-Royce AE 2100 engines provided the equivalent of adding a fifth T56 engine to a legacy C-130. That extra power is appreciated on many of the 86th’s missions, which are frequently into risky, unprotected landing zones.

  Technical Sergeant Francis Gilson, 86th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, a flying crew chief, recalled one mission, to an undisclosed location, where no one wanted to stay any longer than necessary.

  The sun dips below the horizon as Captain Darren Maturi taxies out at Rhein-Main. Captain Mike Brignola, in the right-hand seat, checks the details. Note the AN/APN-169A SKE (Station Keeping Equipment) scope mounted atop the instrument panel. (MWB)

  ‘We unloaded all our stuff and said, ‘Bye, we are out of here.’ I can’t tell you any more than that,’ he said, recalling how grateful they were for a rapid departure. ‘The C-130J is the most versatile aircraft, especially the places we go to.’ We go to places in the middle of forests, a little dirt air strip. You’re flying around and you see this little strip and you say, ‘we’re going to land there?’

  But in addition to military operations, the 86th has assisted with humanitarian efforts in several countries, including the Ebola response in western Africa, Nigerian elections and earthquake relief in Haiti.

  ‘We were the second flight down there to open up the base. It was a great experience to help the people of Haiti, who were devastated by the earthquake.’

  Whatever the mission, the crews count on their engines every day. They don’t want to think about them or worry about them. They just want to start up the engines and go fly whatever and wherever they are assigned - and then return safely.8

  Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990 had ended in Iraq’s defeat by a US-led coalition in the Persian Gulf War (1990–91). However, the Iraqi branch of the Baʿth Party, headed by Ṣaddām Ḥussein, managed to retain power by harshly suppressing uprisings of the country’s minority Kurds and its majority Shīʿite Arabs. To stem the exodus of Kurds from Iraq, the allies established a ‘safe haven’ in northern Iraq’s predominantly Kurdish regions and allied warplanes patrolled ‘no-fly’ zones in northern and southern Iraq that were off-limits to Iraqi aircraft. Moreover, to restrain future Iraqi aggression, the United Nations (UN) implemented economic sanctions against Iraq in order to, among other things, hinder the progress of its most lethal arms programs, including those for the development of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. (See weapon of mass destruction.) UN inspections during the mid-1990s uncovered a variety of proscribed weapons and prohibited technology throughout Iraq. That country’s continued flouting of the UN weapons ban and its repeated interference with the inspections frustrated the international community and led US President Bill Clinton in 1998 to order the bombing of several Iraqi military installations (code-named Operation ‘Desert Fox’). After the bombing, however, Iraq refused to allow inspectors to reenter the country and during the next several years the economic sanctions slowly began to erode as neighbouring countries sought to reopen trade with Iraq.

  The tri-wall aerial delivery system (TRIADS) first used on 20 March 1993 over Srebrenica. In this method individual HDR packets packed into 4 x 31 feet cardboard boxes are ‘fluttered’ onto DZs. The boxes have walls made of three layers of cardboard and self-destruct after leaving the C-130 because the ties holding them together are pulled apart: individual HDRs then scatter into the air and fall to the ground, in much the same way as a leaflet drop.

  On the evening 19 March 2003 one day prior to the onset of combat operations, Air Force F-117 stealth fighters struck the Dora Farms complex southwest of Baghdad based on intelligence that Saddam Hussein was in the area. Unfortunately, the attack was not successful. Combat operations began the next day and the USAF participated in air strikes on key targets in and around Baghdad, launching more than 1,700 coalition air sorties and missile launches against Iraq. Similar to Operation ‘Enduring Freedom’, during the first six weeks of operations 68 percent of weapons employed were precision guided munitions. Because Turkey refused to allow the Air Force to use its air bases to deliver troops and supplies into Northern Iraq, Coalition Forces needed an airfield in Iraq. On 26 March C-130 and C-17 aircraft dropped nearly 1,000 paratroopers of the 173rd Airborne Brigade as well as members of the Air Force’s 86th Contingency Response Group onto Bashur airfield near Erbil in Northern Iraq to help secure the airfield. That marked the first time that the C-17 had been used in a combat airdrop. On 6 April CENTAF leadership declared air supremacy over all of Iraq and on 16 April the first humanitarian relief flight landed at Bashur airfield.

  Coalition Air Forces flew nearly 1,000 Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) sorties during the initial weeks of Operation ‘Iraqi Freedom’, collecting 42,000 battlefield images and more than 3,000 hours of full motion video. As of April 30, 2003, coalition air forces numbered 1,801 aircraft, 863 of which were U.S. Air Force fighters, bombers, tankers, special operations and rescue aircraft, transport aircraft and ISR and command and control aircraft. In the first six weeks, coalition air forces flew more than 41,000 sorties and the USAF accounted for more than 24,000 of the total. Likewise, Air Force C-130 aircraft transported over 12,000 short tons of materiel during the initial stages of the operation, while Air Force tankers flew more than 6,000 sorties and disbursed more than 376 million pounds of fuel. At the end of April 2003, the Air Force had approximately 54,955 active duty personnel in Iraq, 2,084 Air Force Reserve personnel and 7,207 members of the Air National Guard. In addition, the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) was called upon for only the second time in its history (the first had been during Operations ‘Desert Shield’ and ‘Desert Storm’). Although only active for four months, the CRAF moved nearly 100,000 troops to the Area of Operations (AOR).

  The Air Force also employed Global Mobility Task Forces (GMTF) during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The GMTF accompanied advanced forces and made determinations on whether or not captured airfields could be quickly converted for coalition use as logistics hubs or as close air support bases. The success of those teams in identifying suitable bases led to the first basing of coalition aircraft inside Iraq on 4 April 2003 when USAF A-10s were based at Tallil airfield.

  Major combat operations were declared over on 1 May. However, Iraq remained unstable, with little security and massive looting. The situation continued to deteriorate and coalition forces soon found themselves facing an insurgency caused by a number of factors, including lack of infrastructure and basic services for citizens, as well as ethnic and religious tensions among various groups. Since 2003 the USAF has maintained a continuous presence in Iraq. Air Force operations during that period, although classified as security, stability, transition and reconstruction operations, remained at a high operations tempo. The Air Force provided constant combat
air patrols in support of ground forces and as well as providing airlift, ISR, aerial refuelling, aeromedical evacuation and combat search and rescue capabilities. Air Force Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs) provided command and control for close air support missions, while the Air Force performed a range of other missions usng civil engineers, security forces, logistics readiness personnel and dozens of other Air Force specialties. Similar to Operation ‘Enduring Freedom’, this also included hundreds of Airmen filling ‘in lieu of’ taskings to perform tasks with the Army. Finally, remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) also filled the skies of Iraq and were heavily relied upon by military leaders at all levels because of the real time situational awareness and persistent ISR presence they provided. The Air Force also surged its assets when required. For example, during the period January to April 2005, when the Marines increased their forces in Iraq, the Air Force supported that surge with 325 inter-theatre airlift missions and 1,059 intra-theatre missions, completing what Marine Corps historians believed to be the largest troop rotation in US military history. Likewise, when the Army ‘surged’ forces into Iraq in late 2007 and 2008, the Air Force supported those operations with increased airlift and close air support missions.

  C-130H 91-1231, the 2,000th Hercules built, readied for the return flight from Split to Rhein-Main on 23 March 1994 after technical problems with C-130E 62-1834 meant that it was not worth risking life and limb crossing the Alps in that aircraft.

  Chapter 10 Endnotes

  1 The role played by the Special Operations’ AC/EC/MC/HC-130s in the Gulf War is covered in Chapter 5, while the part played by RAF Hercules is covered in Chapter 8.

  2 Major Paul Britton retired from the USAF in 2001 as a C-130/U-2 instructor and became a captain/check pilot with Southwest Airlines.

  3 On 3 October 1993 120 Delta Force Commandos and Army Rangers were dropped into the heart of Mogadishu. Their mission was a fast daylight raid to kidnap lead terrorist Mohammed Farrah Aidid, who had been killing UN workers delivering food to starving Somalis. Aideed’s goal was to control the country by controlling all the food. The US raid went off with clockwork precision, until the unexpected happened. Two of the Black Hawk helicopters, the soldiers’ airlift out, were shot down. The mission abruptly changed to a rescue operation. Surrounded by Somali militia, a fierce fire-fight ensued that left American troops trapped and fighting for their lives. The ordeal left 18 American soldiers dead, 70 wounded, with 3,000 Somali casualties.

  4 This raid and another on the same target on 18 December put five consecutive spans of the bridge out of action for many months causing significant disruption to the flow of supplies into Hànôi although a pontoon-type railway bridge was constructed a few miles away by April 1968. Vietnam Air Losses by Chris Hobson (Midland Publishing 2001).

  5 On 3 September 1992 an Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare Italiana) G.222 transport was shot down when approaching Sarajevo airfield, while conducting a United Nations relief mission. It crashed eighteen miles from the airfield; a NATO rescue mission was aborted when two USMC CH-53 helicopters came under small arms fire. The cause of the crash was determined to be a surface-to-air missile, but it was not clear who fired it. Everyone on board - four Italian crew members and four French passengers - died in the crash.

  6 Darren was a C-130 Instructor/Examiner from 1989 to 1998 and is now a Cathay Pacific 747-400/747-8 captain.

  7 C-130E 64-0529 was put into storage at AMARC on 20 December 2006.

  8 Adapted from The Ramstein Workhorse by George McLaren, Rolls-Royce the magazine, June 2015.

  C-130J C.5 ZH889 on 9 September 2001 flown by Wing Commander Rick Hobson. Lyneham received the first of 25 C-130J C.5 Hercules on 23 November 1999, to be operated by XXIV Squadron and 30 Squadron. The J worked side by side with 29 refurbished C-130Ks flown by 47 Squadron. Lyneham was the RAF’s principal transport hub until the station closed on 31 December 2012, when Lyneham was designated as a Master Diversion Airfield.

  Chapter Eleven

  That Eagles May Fly

  Five in the morning, May 21 1982, seven weeks into the Falklands conflict. The Argentine radar operator at Rio Grande airbase, on the island of Tierra del Fuego, is looking forward to his bed. Outside, rain is blowing across the deserted airfield. The blip appears out of nowhere, 25 miles out to sea, coming in fast and low. Suddenly alert, the operator calls over his duty officer, but the blip has already faded. Out over the South Atlantic, two Hercules transports of 47 Squadron battle through the night. Buffeted by strong headwinds, they skim the waves at 50 feet to evade detection. The co-pilots peer through night vision goggles, guiding the pilots towards the coast, one lapse enough to cause disaster. Night vision is in its infancy, the devices a secret gift from the Americans. Tension mounts as landfall over Argentina approaches, the conclusion of a 13 hour flight from Ascension Island involving two mid-air rendezvous with Victor tankers. Behind the crews, in the cavernous holds of the Hercules, sixty men of B Squadron, 22nd SAS Regiment, ready their weapons and vehicles, Land Rovers bristling with machine guns. This is a one way mission, the best outcomes being escape to neutral Chile, or capture. The worst outcome is all too obvious. Minutes later, the C130s slam down on the runway at Rio Grande. The rear doors are already open, the lowered ramps scraping the ground. In an instant, the Land Rovers are charging straight for the apron where four French-built Super Étendard fighters of the Argentine navy stand. Some of the SAS fling charges into the engine intakes while others search for the Étendard pilots, who are to be shot on sight. Another group search for the weapon that above all others threatens Britain with defeat in the South Atlantic: the Exocet. Moments later, the first charges explode. Gunfire erupts. The world dissolves into chaos.

  Operation ‘Mikado’ was a plan to use the SAS to attack the Argentine’s Super Étendard bases at Tierra Fuego. Had it happened, Operation Mikado would have been the most dramatic raid staged by Britain since the Second World War, a desperate coup de main intended to remove the Exocet (French for ‘flying fish’) threat to the Royal Navy task force seeking to retake the Falklands. Throughout its very long and distinguished history, RAF Transport Command - renamed Air Support Command (motto Ut Aquilae Volent) on 1 August 1967 and later reduced to a group of Strike Command - boasted one of the finest indigenous transport fleets in the world.

  By late 1967 only two transport squadrons of Hastings remained in service with the RAF, while Beverleys were finally withdrawn from RAF service at the end of the year. The decision to go for the Hercules was not difficult, particularly when it was agreed that British companies like Marshall of Cambridge (Engineering) Ltd and Scottish Aviation could be permitted to submanufacture avionics equipment and other components and since the only home-produced contender had been cancelled. The version chosen for issuing to RAF Transport Command was essentially the C-130H-130 airframe with 4,508 eshp T56-A-15 engines. Britain’s subcomponent contribution was politically as well as financially expedient and so significant that it led to the RAF Hercules production versions being given their own designation. Thus the C-130K was born. In RAF service the new transport would be designated the Hercules C.Mk.1. In 1965 the British Government placed an order for 66 C-130Ks, making the RAF the second-largest Hercules user after the USAF (Iran later received 64 C-130s).

  The first C-130K (65-13021/XV176) flew at Marietta, Georgia on 19 October 1966 and remained in the US for six months of flight-testing. On 16 December the second aircraft (XV177) became the first Hercules delivered to Marshalls, the prime contractor responsible for the support and co-ordination of all engineering development. This, together with the third aircraft (XV178) underwent Service trials at the A&AEE (Aircraft and Armament Experimental Establishment) at Boscombe Down in February and March 1967 respectively. 36 Squadron, which had flown the Hastings at Colerne moved to Lyneham, Wiltshire and became the first squadron in the RAF to begin re-equipment with the C.Mk.1 in July and August 1967. Six more were operated by 242 OCU at Thorney Island in Hampshire, which had
received its first C.Mk.1 in April. C.Mk.1s were flown out to Singapore to equip a second ex-Hastings squadron (48, at RAF Changi) in October 1967. Final deliveries to the RAF of the C.Mk.1 were made in 1968. During February, May and June Nos. 24, 47 and 30 Squadrons converted to the Hercules, 24 joining 36 Squadron at Lyneham and the other two being based at RAF Fairford. In 1970 70 Squadron at Akrotiri, Cyprus became the sixth Hercules squadron when it began receiving C.Mk.1s that November. In January 195 70 Squadron returned to England and 48 Squadron left Changi in September, both to join the Lyneham Wing, although the latter disbanded there in January 1976. 36 Squadron disbanded in November 1975. These developments left four front-line Hercules squadrons (Nos. 24, 30, 47 and 70) and the OCU at Lyneham (which in July 1992 was renumbered 57 (Reserve) Squadron).1

  The Hercules’ range of over 4,500 miles carrying a payload of nearly 20,000lb or 2,500 miles with 45,000lb gave the RAF a transport equally suited to tactical and strategic roles. Introduction into service for any aircraft type is never straightforward and in 1969 Marshall’s discovered that the service use of contaminated fuel had corroded many of the C.Mk.1s’ integral wing tanks. This resulted in eleven Hercules being withdrawn from front-line squadrons and each had its 48 feet long tanks either completely or partially replaced with new components manufactured by Lockheed. In 1972 XV208 was taken out of service with 48 Squadron and delivered to Marshall’s for extensive modification as the Hercules W.Mk.2 for weather reconnaissance and research by the Royal Aircraft Establishment’s Meteorological Research Flight at Farnborough. Once completed, Snoopy, as this aircraft was affectionately known, flew on 31 March 1973. Snoopy ceased operations with the UK Met Office (Met Research Flight) on 31 March 2001. During 1972-85 Marshall’s modified the Hercules’ outer wing structure, wing joints and engine truss mounts to extend the life of the C.Mk.1 airframes. When a structural test programme conducted by Marshalls in January 1975 revealed a major failure in the test aircraft, the decision was taken to modify all the C.Mk.1s with a redesigned centre section; this had been first introduced by Lockheed for the USAF’s C-130A, E and HC-130H aircraft in 1968. Marshall’s completed this modification in 1979. In addition to all of this work, beginning in 1976, Marshall Engineering began major servicing of the RAF Hercules fleet, dealing with each aircraft on a three-year cycle. For three years, from 1976-79, all the C.Mk.1s were also put through an anticorrosion programme to extend their service life.