"It's going to be a wild ride around here the next year as we convert to the C-5 Galaxy," says Brig. Gen. Bruce Davis, commander of the 445th Airlift Wing at Wright-Patterson AFB near Dayton, Ohio. "We have to get aircrews trained, maintenance trained, buildings built, and ramps enlarged. All that, and, oh, by the way, we still have a mission to do with our current aircraft."
The 445th AW operates the very last C-141 StarLifter transports still in service. For the last two years, the wing's C-141s have served as the primary aeromedical evacuation, or AE, platform for casualties coming out of Iraq. An Air Force Reserve Command unit, the 445th AW was activated in March 2003 at the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and approximately 620 of the wing's Reservists were called to active duty. The mandatory two-year activation limit was reached earlier this year, but the AE mission requirements remain.
Now the StarLifter crews volunteer to fly the four-a-week missions from Wright-Patterson to Ramstein AB, Germany, staging point for the AE flights. They make one flight into Balad, Iraq, and then return to the United States with servicemembers who were injured just a few days before. This schedule is expected to continue until at least the early fall.
The wing's first C-5A arrives in October.
Big Conversion, Converting Big
"We will have enough people trained to start using the C-5 as soon as it gets here," notes Davis, who worked though the C-5 wing conversion at Kelly AFB (now Kelly Annex), in San Antonio, Texas, earlier in his career. "People started moving into training early on. We have a good plan."
Implementing that plan is the task of Lt. Col. Anne Gunter. "This job can't be done by one person," she notes. "We have an outstanding team. There is a great working relationship between the base, AFRC, and the Army Corps of Engineers to get all the actions planned and going. Wing maintenance and ops have been very cooperative as well."
Converting to a new aircraft is always a huge task, but converting to a C-5 brings a unique set of issues. The hangars built to house the B-52 bombers that once were parked on the wing's West Ramp accommodate the C-141s, but not the giant C-5s. In addition to occupying hangar space, Galaxys also take up considerable ramp space, and the 445th AW will eventually be assigned eleven C-5s.
Eleven major military construction projects, valued at $62.8 million, are under way or are planned through FY07. These projects include renovating existing facilities and buildings, installing a C-5 simulator, and expanding the ramp and aprons. The big projects, in terms of both dollars and square footage, are two new hangars and a fueling cell.
"We're going to have one multipurpose hangar," says Gunter. "It will be the aircraft wash rack and will also be used for maintenance. The weather here is a critical item, so the aircraft's tail will be completely enclosed. When we started, we got maintenance to list their requirements—electrical connections, storage, lighting, etc., and we made sure those requirements were included in the design."
The Wright-Patterson team also visited other C-5 bases to pick their collective brains for what was needed in Ohio. The wing conversion involves so many activities, such as relocating maintenance shops and telephone lines while the hangars are being built, that an intranet database was designed so all concerned parties could keep tabs on the schedule of what was happening when.
Filling The Ramp
Operations and maintenance are charging forward as well. "More and more maintenance troops are cross training into the C-5," notes Davis. "We started training the aircrews in the spring. The first year, we want to have three trained crew members per position. One of those crew members will be an instructor. We are also setting up a C-5 standardization and evaluation section."
Once pilots or copilots retrain into the C-5, they are sent to Dover AFB, Kelly Annex, or Westover ARB, Massachusetts, for seasoning—actual flying time in an aircraft, not a simulator. "Most people will agree that, despite its size, the C-5 is actually easier to fly than the C-141," adds Davis, who has 2,000 hours in the C-5 and 3,000 hours in the C-141.
Nine of the C-5As coming to Wright-Patterson are being transferred from the 439th AW at Westover. The 445th AW's first C-5 will come either from Dover or Travis AFB, California; the final aircraft is scheduled to be transferred from Altus AFB, Oklahoma, in spring 2007. "The various update programs have eliminated most of the differences between A models and B models," notes Davis.
The pending arrival of the C-5s means the retirement of the C-141s. The 445th AW currently operates sixteen C-141s in two flying units, the 89th and 356th Airlift Squadrons. The 356th will be absorbed in the 89th in June 2006. The very last C-141 is also scheduled to retire shortly after that—forty-two years and six months after the first aircraft was flown.
"This conversion is unusual in that the C-141s are still so heavily tasked even while they are being retired," observes Gunter. "When we get down to eight aircraft, which will likely be this September, our mission in the area of responsibility, or AOR, is supposed to stop," adds Davis. "It may go on a little longer than that."
Four Flights A Week
In FY04, the 445th AW hauled 18.5 million pounds of cargo and moved nearly 31,000 passengers and 9,050 patients out of the AOR on a four-flights-a-week schedule. In the first quarter of this fiscal year alone, the C-141 crews moved 3.7 million pounds, 5,600 passengers, and 2,400 patients. "The C-141 can still move more litters than any other jet in the Air Force," says MSgt. Gregory King, a wing maintainer regularly deployed to Ramstein AB, Germany. "It is still doing what it is supposed to do."
"Our mission capable rate is way up—nearly seventy-seven percent," notes Davis. "The C-141 is still a good airplane. Our C-141s are forty years old, most with more than 30,000 hours on them, and they just keep working. Our maintenance troops deserve a lot of credit."
The 445th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron has sixteen mechanics, mostly Air Reserve Technicians—that is, full-time personnel—along with some traditional Reservists deployed for thirty days at a time to care for the aircraft while the C-141s are in Germany. "We have a supply of parts at Ramstein. If we need a specialty part, such as a mission computer, we just call back to Wright-Patterson," says King. "Another flight is always on the way here, so it can bring the part."
"During the war, we had six or seven aircraft here, plus an alert aircraft. We were running two missions a day," recalls TSgt. Bill Selman, another maintenance technician. "The amount of maintenance we had to do on the aircraft then actually went down."
"These aircraft need a little TLC, but we work around the clock to keep them flying," adds King. "Bringing the injured out of the desert is an important mission."
Heading Down Range
After arriving at Ramstein mid morning, the C-141 aircrews go into crew rest. The next afternoon, they take off for Balad and return to Ramstein the following morning. They fly back to the US the day after that.
Dramatic improvements in combat medicine and the aeromedical evacuation system have greatly reduced the time it takes to get the injured from the theater to higher level medical care. Patients move so fast, in fact, that when a C-141 crew is flying to Germany midweek, many patients whom that evac crew will transport to Andrews AFB, Maryland, three days later on their return flight haven't even been injured yet.
"We show up at the air terminal operations center and get briefed on the cargo we will be taking down," says Capt. Bryan Bergen, a C-141 aircraft commander. "Then we get an intel brief on the airfield—what has happened in the last twelve hours. We review the airfield approach data and the tactical data, such as radio frequencies. Then we begin flight planning. From that point, it is a normal airlift mission. That is, until we get in the area."
Meanwhile, the C-141 is loaded for Balad. It can carry eight pallets and 33,600 pounds of cargo. The heavier pallets are loaded in the middle of the aircraft, often carrying delivery addresses like "Snake Street, Balad AB, Iraq." There's really no need to put street numbers—everybody there pretty much knows where everything is located. The medical crew and their equipment are loaded last.
The augmented aircrew for the Balad missions consists of the aircraft commander, one copilot, one pilot sitting in the jump seat, two flight engineers, and two loadmasters. The aircraft also carries a flight mechanic, as Balad is not a place where crews want to get stranded. Bulletproof Kevlar plates cover the flight deck floor and run up the sides of the center instrument console. Even the base of the pilot's control yoke is protected.
Takeoff at Ramstein is usually planned to allow for maximum night operations. Balad is one of the most attacked bases in Iraq, but it is still safer than flying into Baghdad. The desert terrain makes it slightly safer to fly into, as aircrews and defenders on the ground can see the bad guys coming. If there is a muzzle flash from an insurgent around Balad, US forces there will immediately shoot or bomb them.
During the five-hour flight, the flight engineer configures the aircraft to minimize potential damage from a ground attack, such as shifting fuel in the tanks. He also turns off the external lights. "We put observers in the windows to look for hostile fire," says Bergen. "The observers wear helmets and flak jackets. We usually just put on the flak jackets. We choose a random route in case the bad guys are watching the airfield and are armed. We have defensive systems, but we try to minimize exposure to any threats, such as small arms and shoulder-fired SAMs. We land, unload, and then the loadmaster and medical crew start reconfiguring for the AE part of the mission."
Immediate Care
The C-141 is regarded as a nearly ideal AE platform. "The C-17 can only carry nine litter patients with the equipment stored on board. We have to bring extra gear and special stanchions to carry additional litter patients," says Maj. Darin Gunnink, a medical crew director, or MCD, with the 791st Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron. "If a C-17 is identified in the system, some patients may have to be floor loaded—their litters tied down on the floor. It does have better lights and better temperature control than the C-141. But any C-141 can be converted to an AE platform after carrying cargo. With the comfort pallet—the extra lavatories and kitchen carried on board—we can carry seventy-six total ambulatory and litter patients on the C-141.
The aeromedical technicians, called aeromeds or med techs, set up the litter stanchions in the aircraft while the loadmasters get the aircraft ready. Personnel at the combat aeromedical staging facility in Balad determine the order in which the patients are loaded onto the aircraft. The ambulatory and less critical patients are loaded first.
The critical care air transport team, or CCATT, patients are loaded last onto the aircraft so that they can be unloaded first upon arrival at Ramstein. This loading procedure allows CCATT patients to spend less time on the aircraft. They are always placed on the right side of the aircraft where the oxygen connections are located. Each CCATT (pronounced see-cat) patient is assigned one specific doctor, nurse, and medical technician. More than sixty pounds of specialized medical equipment is attached to the litter and mounted over the patient. Each CCATT team can handle three critically injured patients.
The medical crew, which normally consists of an MCD, three nurses, and four medical technicians, takes care of all of the other patients on board. The 791st EAES is composed of active duty, Guard, and Reserve medical team members who are combined into one squadron. Many EAES members now have more than 100 missions down range—the universal term for going in theater. "It makes you feel really good when you can take care of heroes," says Gunnink.
Prior to departure, the MCD and the aircraft commander confer. "Cabin altitude restrictions are necessary for patients with head wounds, detached retinas, and ear problems," said Gunnink. "If those injuries are on board, the aircraft will then need more fuel for flying at lower altitudes. If the flight is planned right, we won't have to stop en route unless there is a dire emergency."
"Once the aircraft is reconfigured, we make a tactical departure. After that, the flight pretty much becomes a regular run," says Lt. Col. Clay Pittman, an aircraft commander. "We will try to find smooth air in flight and try not to jostle the patients around too much."
Heading West
During the Vietnam conflict, getting a wounded troop back to the United States often took thirty days. In Iraq, the time from injury to the US averages about four days. After just a few days at Landstuhl Regional Medical Hospital in Germany, stable ambulatory, litter, and CCATT patients are loaded onto another C-141 for the flight home.
"The Andrews missions are just about the longest flights we make," says Gunnink. "We always fly with an extra nurse and med tech. The extra personnel gives us the ability to fly for up to twenty-four hours. We affectionately call the C-141 'the tube of pain.' It gets us there, but it takes time."
On flights where MSgt. Rick Smith is one of the loadmasters, patients get an extra treat. Shortly after takeoff, the aroma of chicken wings, shrimp scampi, and pork roast, or some other entrŽe de jour, fill the cabin of the StarLifter. "I really enjoy feeding people on the return trip," says Smith. "The flight is very long and the hot meals give the patients something pleasant to remember it by. It's also a nice way to support the medical crew. They work really hard."
The two conventional ovens and two refrigerators on the C-141's comfort pallet serve as Smith's kitchen. He spends about $90 per flight of his own money for the groceries and refuses to take any money in return. "It's just something I like to do," he says.
"At Andrews, we get the patients off, get the equipment off, and go through all the seats and look for any medical waste to make sure that none of our stuff is left behind," says Gunnink. "There are a lot of places for a syringe or medicine vial to hide."
The aircraft is met by ambulance busses, or ambusses, to take patients to Bethesda National Naval Medical Center, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, or Malcolm Grow Medical Center at Andrews. From there, the patients go to regional facilities near their homes or to specialized hospitals such as the burn center at Brooks Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas.
By this time, it is early evening. Once the patients are unloaded, the loadmasters secure the aircraft, tie up the web seats, and prepare the StarLifter for the flight back home to Dayton. The glow from the C-141C's digital cockpit instruments comes up as the aircraft starts up and taxies off the transient ramp at Andrews. The crew takes off and the C-141, literally and now symbolically as well, heads west.
The Hanoi Taxi
Since the C-141's operational debut on 23 April 1965, active duty, Guard, and Reserve crews have played a critical role in every conflict, natural disaster, and operation Military Airlift Command or Air Mobility Command has been involved in, delivering people, equipment, and relief supplies to just about every point on the map. However, one mission still stands above the rest.
With the signing of the Paris Peace Accords on 17 January 1973, the US involvement in Vietnam ended. On 12 February, crews flying three C-141As landed at Gia Lam Airport in Hanoi, North Vietnam. Their mission: repatriate the first US servicemen held as prisoners of war, some for close to seven years. The first aircraft to land that day, serial number 66-0177, is still in service. Today, it has been repainted in the same paint scheme it wore thirty-two years ago. Nicknamed Hanoi Taxi, it is the 445th Airlift Wing's flagship.
After undergoing two major modification programs during its career, 66-0177, now a C-141C, has become a flying museum. The forty POWs on that first flight signed the aircraft under the wing box, and those signatures are preserved under Plexiglas. Framed photos mounted on the inside of the cargo compartment show POWs in Hanoi and aboard the aircraft. Aircrew headrest covers on the flight deck are embroidered with the black and white POW/MIA logo, and each of the crew positions has engraved plaques with the name of the crew member on that first Freedom Flight.
"We try to take a little extra care of this one," says MSgt. Jeff Whittman, crew chief for Hanoi Taxi. "Although we take it to a lot of airshows, it was used for aeromedical evacuation missions in Iraq for three months. But its high-visibility gray and white paint limits how it can be used. It did go into Haiti last year to deliver UN troops, though." The aircraft has logged more than 39,300 flight hours in its career.
In addition to being the first C-141 into Hanoi, 66-0177 was also the last. In May 2004, Maj. Gen. Ed Mechenbier, one of the newly freed POWs in 1973, flew the aircraft to Hanoi to repatriate the recently recovered remains of two American servicemembers killed in action. It was Mechenbier's last flight before he retired.
"Next spring, we are going to try and gather all the former POWs we can and have a last hurrah with '177," says Col. Bruce Davis, the 445th wing commander. "After we convert to C-5s, we will still have three empty C-141 hangars, so we will probably keep the aircraft in one of them until the museum is ready for it."
The National Museum of the United States Air Force is also located at Wright-Patterson AFB and plans to open a fourth major hangar gallery by 2008. Hanoi Taxi will likely share space in the new hangar with the aircraft that have served as Air Force One.
Jeff Rhodes is the associate editor of Code One.
