A C-130H aircrew from the Georgia Air National Guard deployed with the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron stationed at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, performed a high-altitude airdrop mission on Aug. 26 to deliver eight bundles of food, water, clothes, and blankets to a remote village in the northern part of the country. “These airdrop missions are challenging, and we enjoy that challenge,” said Lt. Col. Tommy Atkinson, the C-130 aircraft commander. He added, “What may be lost on some people is how complicated these missions really are, because we’ve been doing them flawlessly for so long.” The 774th EAS has been dropping an average of five to eight tons of supplies and equipment per mission. Such airdrops are vital to support coalition activities in otherwise difficult-to-access remote areas of the country. (Bagram report by TSgt. John Jung)
After a long period in which munitions were almost an afterthought and sacrificed to pay for other priorities, the Air Force needs to focus on them in order to have the right “package” of capabilities for future conflicts, Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. said June 7.