CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. –
When Charleston Air Force Base became the air hub for C-17 Globemaster III's providing relief supplies of water, food and medical needs, the 437th Airlift Wing established a C-17 stage to manage the vast number of aircrews supporting Operation Unified Response.
"As support for Operation Unified Response became a large operation it became beneficial to establish the stage to meet the large number of aircrews to run a smooth and efficient operation," said Lt. Col. Johnny Johnson, 437 AW stage manager and 15th Airlift Squadron assistant director of operations.
He said normally the command post would track alert status, crew rest, maximum flying hours per week restrictions and other information but with the addition of 30 additional aircrews to the flying operation, the stage was imperative to the mission. He emphasized the stage wasn't established because the command post couldn't handle the extra work load but is there to assist the command post with the additional work load as the two groups work hand in hand to get aircrews and aircraft off station.
The stage, made up of three lieutenant colonels and four duty officers working 12-hour shifts have facilitated the 71 of the 98 sorties flown as of Jan. 21. In the 24 hours of Jan. 21, 40 C-17 sorties were launched from the base carrying needed relief material and personnel to help the Haitian people who were devastated by a 7.0 earthquake Jan. 12.
"There is fantastic work being done by those pilots selected to be in the stage," he said. "They are working outside the normal duties and have adapted to the environment they are working in because they know the results of their effort. Of course they all would like to be on the front lines flying but understand the value of their work being done behind the scenes."
For those flying into Haiti the colonel said the aircrews are assigned missions on a first in first out basis as the 628th Tanker Airlift Control Center at Scott AFB, Ill., tasks the wing to support a mission. He said most aircrews will normally be on alert for around six hours before being tasked after they have come off their 12-hour mandatory crew rest.
He said some crews have flown four or five relief sorties, which is close to doubling their normal amount of flying time in a month.
The colonel was quick to point out the crews come not only from across Air Mobility Command but Pacific Air Forces as well. Crews and aircraft came from the 62nd Airlift Wing, McChord AFB, Wash., 305th Air Mobility Wing, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., 60th Air Mobility Wing, Travis AFB, Calif., 3rd Wing, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, 15th Airlift Wing, Hickam AFB, Hawaii, 452nd Air Mobility Wing, March Air Reserve Base, Calif., and 172nd Airlift Wing, Mississippi Air National Guard.