72nd Aerial Port Squadron trains in a big way

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Zach Anderson
  • 507th Air Refueling Wing
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  To simply call the C-5 Galaxy a "big airplane" is like referring to the Grand Canyon as a "big hole." It's a bit of an understatement, to say the least.

With its almost 223-foot wingspan and length of over 247 feet, the C-5 is a hulking beast of an aircraft. Towering over 65 feet above the flight line and boasting a cavernous cargo compartment, the C-5 is capable of transporting up to 270,000 pounds of cargo and is the largest air lifter in the U.S. Air Force inventory.

A "Big airplane" indeed.

While such a massive aircraft provides incredible air mobility capabilities, it also presents a unique challenge when it comes to loading and unloading for deployment operations. For that reason the 72nd Aerial Port Squadron spent a large portion of the December UTA conducting valuable real-world deployment exercises on a C-5 Galaxy. For the Airmen of the 72nd APS, it was a rare opportunity to train on the actual aircraft.

"A good portion of our squadron has very limited or no experience on the C-5 Galaxy, so having the aircraft allowed us to show our troops how things actually work on the aircraft," said Master Sgt. Michael S. Hapgood, Assistant NCOIC of Ramp Services for the 72nd Aerial Port Squadron.

"Having the actual aircraft also allowed us as trainers to have new people operate various types of vehicles up to the aircraft. This was essential because it allowed new folks to take their time pulling up to the airplane without having to worry if the plane will be loaded in time for departure," Hapgood said.

Of course, getting the C-5 to Tinker Air Force Base in the first place was no easy task. The aircraft itself was actually requested from the 4th and 10th Air Forces by Senior Master Sgt. Nathaniel McGuire, Senior Air Reserve Technician for the 72nd APS.

McGuire said the idea was to have an actual C-5 in place for Airmen to conduct training in preparation for the upcoming exercise in March.

"That experience can't be replaced. We don't get that many C-5's here and when they do come through it's typically not on a UTA weekend. We needed to provide the actual experience," said McGuire.

The training itself was an exercise in time management and utilization of resources. Due to the fact that the 72nd APS doesn't often have the opportunity to work on a C-5, the entire operation was designed to maximize the amount of training conducted in a limited amount of time.

"Our goal in creating the training plan was to show the 4th Air Force that if they will send a plane our way, we will make the best use of it. We had not gotten a T-Tail in several years that was dedicated to our training and we weren't going to let it set idle even for a minute," Hapgood said.
The 72nd APS began the actual planning for the exercise last October, laying the groundwork for what would hopefully allow for all sections of the aircraft to be used throughout the day. When the C-5 was in place on Sunday, not a minute was wasted.

In a frenzy of activity, members of the 72nd APS conducted six separate training operations simultaneously. This training included aircraft loading and unloading, tiedown and restraint training, fleet servicing training, passenger services training, staircase truck training and air terminal operations center (ATOC) training.

"All operations were consolidated after lunch on Sunday, culminating into one large exercise," Hapgood said. He went on to say that by mapping out a precise time-management training strategy, the Airmen of the 72nd were able to accomplish a tremendous amount of training in a short window of time.

The C-5 was only on the ground for seven hours. During that limited time frame, the 72nd APS managed to load 38 pallets loaded with 114,000 pounds of cargo along with loading and tying down 12 pieces of rolling stock, accounting for another 84,000 pounds. Additionally, the 72nd APS conducted 12 hours of vehicle training, processed 231 notional passengers, as well as performing fleet services, ground spotter and team chief training. To top it all off, three members of the 72nd took the oath of reenlistment while on the aircraft.

"It was the best training exercise we've had by far," McGuire said. "The best we've had in 20 years. It really helped that the C-5 loadmasters stayed around and helped our guys and instructed them on what they were doing, both correctly and incorrectly. That helped a lot." Hapgood agreed. "The exercise went better than I could have envisioned it. There was good coordination between the sections and the aircraft was utilized well despite the cold weather. All sections got their chance to use the aircraft and all of our trainees got the critical experience they needed to be successful in the future."

Hapgood stressed that the key to this success was the opportunity to conduct the training on an actual aircraft. "As a trainer, you simply cannot provide enough simulated training to accomplish our needs in this career field. It is essential for new personnel to actually step on the aircraft prior to being required to load one."

Hapgood said he hopes this exercise can serve as a model for future training. "It allowed us to open ourselves to new practices instead of limiting ourselves to the 'this is the way we always do it' mentality. In a sense, we grew as a unit last weekend. Our confidence had been shaken by the results of the ORI and we needed to get out on an airplane and do what we do best, which is move cargo."

Now, after this big-time training, the 72nd APS is planning on some big-time results during a March 2008 exercise.