SOUTHWEST ASIA –
Charleston Air Force Base's first full-squadron deployment of C-17 Globemaster III aircrew and leadership came to a close Sept. 1 with Lt. Col. Ricky Rupp, 14th Airlift Squadron, assuming command of the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron from Lt. Col. Lenny Richoux, 17 AS, in a brief ceremony on the steps of the squadron's front door.
Colonel Richoux and the bulk of the roughly 140 Airmen from the 17 AS , returned to Charleston Sept. 3. As they begin the task of readjusting to life back in the States, their legacy remains for Colonel Rupp and the 14 AS to compound upon.
"He has set the standard for us," said Colonel Rupp, new 816 EAS commander. "Standing up a squadron is quite an undertaking and now what we must focus on is sustaining and supporting. We need to show that we can't just stand this up and do it for a couple of months. We need to show we have this new concept and we can prove this thing over the long haul. Our job is to take what they started and continue it through the duration."
Roughly 15 minutes after the commencement of the ceremony, the new members of the 816 EAS were already en route to their first alert mission, proving a seamless transition from one team to the next.
"I believe teamwork is what makes any complicated operation succeed," said Colonel Richoux. "We were not the first to ever deploy a unit, but we (along with the 817 EAS located at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey) were the first to take a whole squadron from a stateside base and deploy them to the theater and do their job as the same unit.
"When you take people out of a familiar environment and put them into a new environment, things get complicated," he continued. "You take away all the things you're accustomed to working with and you have to rely on each other, which is why the teamwork was so important."
In order to keep the teamwork feel, Colonel Richoux opted to give the aircraft commanders continuity with their crews.
"I used 24 captains and majors to lead 24 hard crews (two pilots and one loadmaster)," he said. "The crews stayed the same for most of the deployment and I let those officers run their crews. I delegated that leadership to them and they did great things."
The actions of the squadron did not go unnoticed either. Brig. Gen. Thomas Gisler, Director of Mobility Forces during the 816 EAS startup, was impressed and pleased with the execution of the EAS concept.
"I think they performed extremely well," he said. "They certainly had the right leadership and crews that were motivated, professional, well-trained and had the right perspective.
They were here to accomplish the mission and they did that with excellence.
"I think they have proven the concept is viable and have laid a great foundation," he said. "It definitely helped with squadron members being together, to have the camaraderie and working with efficiency because of the already established communications."
Colonel Richoux said they return to Charleston with their heads held high knowing they proved the two EAS operation was successful and necessary.
During their time in Southwest Asia, the team not only succeeded doing their mission, they excelled and set a few records along the way.
Overall, they flew more than 3,300 sorties, delivering more than 85 million pounds of cargo and nearly 100,000 U.S. and Coalition military members. Their records include becoming the only C-17 crew to combat airdrop to six drop zones in less than one hour. They airdropped 40 bundles, roughly 65,000 pounds, in one airdrop and they flew 1,254 individual sorties in one month alone.
"My team operated the C-17 in every mission it was designed to do," exclaimed Colonel Richoux. "I am proud of the way the 17th responded to their tasking. They, along with the entire Charleston Air Force Base community, pulled together to process and deploy my entire squadron with only a couple of months notice. I am incredibly proud of what my people did ... pilots, loadmasters, intelligence, life support ... all came together to accomplish a very demanding mission."
Picking up where the 17 AS left off and safely excelling even more is the plan for Colonel Rupp and his team.
"The most exciting thing for me is the two EAS concept with the fully-deployed squadron," said Colonel Rupp who's been the 14 AS commander for roughly one year. "We really need to make this continue to work."
Continuing the successes of the EAS is a priority to the commander, but he said that seeing how they can help their customers, the U.S. and Coalition forces on the ground, is truly rewarding.
"When you can see and hear of the effects on the ground, it keeps you going from mission to mission, knowing you make a difference," he said. "Sometimes you fly a lot of cargo around, but the real missions that touch you are the ones that have the soldiers in the back of the airplane. It allows you to connect. Either you're taking them in and you see how eager they are to get involved and make a difference or you're taking them home and you see that sense of pride that they have and their excitement about returning to their families. It feels good to be the person that helps them."