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A C-130 Hercules crew from the 320th Air Expeditionary Wing was the first US Air Force aircraft to land at an Iraqi airfield in the southern part of the country after the airfield was secured by coalition forces 27 March. The mission, flown by wing commander Col. Rich Johnston and his crew, was the first of many that flew the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division forward to secure the airfield and surrounding area. The first humanitarian assistance loads to be flown into Baghdad International Airport were flown in a Hercules on 12 April. Members of a US Air Force Mission Support Team from McGuire AFB, New Jersey, unloaded the pallets.
 The nautical presence was added in Baghdad on 16 April, as a P-3 Orion crew from VP-46 became the first US Navy aircraft to land on the outskirts of the newly liberated city. The pilot, Cmdr. Steve Krotow, commander of the Grey Knights, was forced to land on the taxiway because of damage to the main runway. The crew was flying VAdm. Timothy Keating, commander, US Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT), to his meeting with the commander of Central Command, Gen. Tommy Franks, and other combatant commanders in the region.
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