POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. –
While I sat in the crewrest area of a C-17 the evening of June 24 and felt the turbulence from the surrounding planes, I leaned my head back and smiled with the understanding that this was, quite possibly, the coolest thing I have ever done.
A few weeks ago I was informed a freelance reporter was interested in writing an article covering the C-17 and Air Mobility Command's role in the Joint Forcible Entry Exercise, known as JFEX. The stage was set, 1st Lt. Chris Hoyler, 43rd Airlift Wing public affairs deputy chief, and I were to escort the gentleman onto a C-17 where he would witness, first hand, how the Air Force and Army plan and coordinate in a deployed arena.
JFEX is a week-long exercise conducted at Pope AFB, six times a year, designed to enhance cohesiveness between the Air Force and Army by executing large-scale heavy equipment and troop movements. For the most recent exercise, six C-17s from Charleston and McChord AFB joined up with eight C-130s from Dyess, Little Rock, Pope and Maxwell AFB to participate in the exercise, along with members of the 82nd Airborne Division. JFEX provides both the Army and the Air Force the opportunity to build relationships, develop their skills and practice command and control functions.
We arrived at the Green Ramp excited. As we sat in the planning room, heads full of questions, Bobby Orr presented himself as our answer guy. He is a retired loadmaster of 24 years and now serves as a 437th Airlift Wing tactics planner. He quickly informed us of the plan for the evening.
Our flight's mission included several drop zone passes. The first pass would drop heavy equipment platforms carrying two High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles onto a predetermined drop zone. On a following pass, 68 paratroopers would jump out of the plane in order to conduct their mission on the ground. Impressed, and somewhat intimidated, I was eager to see how all of this was going to take place.
Prior to the flight several briefings were conducted, updating the aircrew on the day's events. We were invited to sit in on the joint mission brief which covered everything from weather and local threats to flight patterns. The room was full of both Army and Air Force personnel with Maj. Gen. Daniel Allyn, 18th Airborne Corps deputy commanding general, and Col. James Johnson, 43rd Airlift Wing commander, seated in the front row.
The meeting concluded with words from General Allyn, who would be participating in one of the jumps himself. He urged to the audience to eradicate the word 'routine' from their vocabulary. He continued to stress "over communication" and to make no assumptions. As the meeting let out, an excited buzz erupted from the audience as they exited the room for the next series of briefings.
The mood was affable, since the pilots were finally able to remove the autopilot and manually fly the aircraft, which is what they signed up to do so many years ago, Orr explained.
The next briefing was set in the planning room, where Capt. Joe Hoggan, 17th Airlift Squadron, discussed the pilots' role in JFEX. The environment of the room quickly shifted while Captain Hoggan addressed the good and bad aspects of the previous day's flights. He too warned against falling into a routine, reminding the pilots that the mission is no joke and that they are going to be "slinging real dudes."
With all the planning that goes into the process, the question begs to be asked, what happens when things go wrong? To this, Capt. Brock Schnute, 14th Airlift Squadron, reminded the pilots to adjust the overall plan within their own aircraft. He advised in-flight mistakes may require them to make 360-degree turns to correct, but it's all part of being a pilot.
As I looked around I noticed the pilots urgently jotting amendments made to the original flight plan, which was accompanied by the advice to "be pilots and make it happen." It was in this room we met our flight crew.
Capt. Keith Grawert, 15th Airlift Squadron served as our Aircraft Commander, along with Capts. Jon Dark, 15AS, and Kristen Franke, 15 AS, as the C-17's co-pilots. They showed us around the plane, let us explore and answered all of our questions.
It was my first time inside a C-17. As I walked into the cargo area I was stunned into silence when I noticed just how incredibly massive the area was. Already loaded on the plane were two HMMWVs on a platform, covered with cardboard padding and attached to each other with a series of ropes and pulleys. Tech. Sgt. Pete McCann, a loadmaster with the 14 AS, called out a checklist for each individual load while a Joint Air Drop Inspector examined the rigging, ensuring that everything was safe to drop.
"Our biggest concern is that we make sure the cargo leaves the airplane," said Sergeant McCann.
Although it may seem obvious to some, I was previously unaware of how HMMWVs start. Does someone have a key or is the key hidden in the glove compartment, and with that said, do HMMWVs even have glove compartments?
Embarrassed, yet genuinely curious, I asked Sergeant McCann who pointed out a switch located on the dashboard which starts the vehicle. I suppose that would be necessary in a climate where immediate action is required and where there is no time to fight over "who lost the dang keys."
When asked how the cargo was dropped, Sergeant McCann said the parachute extraction system was a big sequence, similar to cartoons, where one event sets off the other. A drogue line is pulled out of the plane, followed by a line bag connected to a parachute. The parachute inflates, catches air and the C-17 literally flies out from under the platform as the cargo falls to the ground. Intrigued? You bet I was.
And finally it was time. The 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers were seated and the flight was prepped for take off in five minutes. We found seats in the crew rest area, strapped in and placed the aircraft's two-way headset on our ears to listen as the pilots carried out their checklists. Stoic, they read and ensured that each step of the checklist was covered and that the plane was safe to go.
The plane taxied onto the runway and I excitedly said a prayer while we took off to the predetermined elevation. Unable to contain myself, I unbuckled, as per Captain Grawert's permission and joined the aircrew in the cockpit. I was amazed to look out the window and witness the most impressive sunset, it was as though the whole world was wishing us good luck on the mission. I turned to look at our passengers. The paratroopers sat, attached to more than 180 pounds of gear, waiting for their chance to do what they do best.
Suddenly, a countdown commenced and the aircrew prepared to drop their first cargo load. "15 minutes," "10 minutes," "five minutes," a voice counted down. The doors opened, a red light announced to the cargo area that the process was about to begin. At the 30-second mark, the light switched from red to yellow and finally to green. Then something miraculous happened - the drogue line deployed, pulling the parachute, just as Sergeant McCann predicted, the parachute opened and pulled the two HMMWVs out of the plane and down toward the drop zone. While hearing about this in and of itself is impressive, witnessing it first-hand is unbelievable.
On the second go-around the paratroopers prepared for their jump. I noticed an aura of calmness shared amongst the jumpers. Whereas I would be nervous and anxious about jumping out of a perfectly good aircraft, these trained experts approached their mission with the utmost level of professionalism, eager to carry out their mission and get the job done. As their light changed from red, to yellow, to green, they ran down the static line and made the jump out over the drop zone where the HMMWVs were waiting to be put into action.
I was beyond impressed with the courage of the paratroopers and I must admit, I don't think I'd ever be able to jump out of an airplane with nothing more than a nudge from the person behind me to urge me along.
The entire experience left me in awe. Not only did I witness the deployment of two HMMWVs and more than 60 paratroopers, most importantly, I learned in order to understand the workings of the Air Force and Army I just have to swallow my pride and ask questions.
Through asking, I learned that HMMWVs don't actually have keys but instead a start-up switch ensuring fast and immediate action. I also learned the padding attached to the top and bottom of the cargo absorbs most of the shock when the cargo lands, and the turbulence encountered in a flight is similar to the waves felt on a jet ski in the ocean.
The night was a blast. Starting at 3 p.m. June 24 I attended several mission planning briefings, walked up and down the cargo area of a C-17, sat in the cockpit along with the pilots and observed, with the aid of night vision goggles, paratroopers and HMMWVs fly off into the night, all in the name of the Joint Forcible Entry Exercise.