C-17 Dirtmaster III

A C-17 lifted two 25,000-pound Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles from an austere airstrip at Forward Operating Base Farah, in western Afghanistan. “The interesting part of this was landing on the semi-prepared field, which is a dirt runway,” said Maj. Wes Skenfield, 817th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron pilot deployed from JB Lewis-McChord, Wash., in discussing the May 10 mission. “It all came together really well, and actually the conditions were better than I expected,” he added. The provincial reconstruction team at Farah no longer needed the MRAP all-terrain vehicles, “so we are giving them to another unit,” said Army Capt. Terell Jones, PRT logistics boss at the FOB. “It has been a really long time since a C-17 landed here, but the mission was a success as a result of the coordination between the different services,” added Jones. (Farah report by Navy Lt. Benjamin Addison)