A look back at OEF HUMRO - the planning
Air Mobility Command News
Release Date: 11/03/2002
Editor's note: This is the first of a two-part series looking at the Operation Enduring Freedom humanitarian mission. The first part will look at the planning. The second part will look at the operation and successes/challenges of the mission.
By Capt. Dani Johnson U.S. Air Forces in Europe Public Affairs
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (AMCNS) - About one year ago, on Oct. 31, C-17s staged from here delivered the one-millionth humanitarian daily ration to the Afghan people as part of the Operation Enduring Freedom humanitarian mission.
Just about three weeks before the milestone was reached, on Oct. 7, 2001, jets from the U.S. Central Command area of operations began bombing Taliban strongholds in Afghanistan. While the media and most of the world focused on the air war, other Air Force units had their sights on the "other" campaign as C-17 Globemaster IIIs were called in to shower Afghanistan with food for a people in turmoil.
The Air Force had approximately two weeks notification to execute the operation, and we had to build the plan from the ground up, said Col. Bob Allardice, C-17 deployed commander during the OEF humanitarian airdrop missions.
"The mission was different from any other humanitarian campaign due to the high altitude airdrops that were being conducted - more than 25,000 feet above ground level," said Allardice, who is currently the 62nd Airlift Wing commander at McChord Air Force Base, Wash.
The Beginning
U.S. Air Forces in Europe was notified of the operation Sept. 28, 2001. The planning stage began at U.S. Air Forces in Europe's Theater Air and Space Operations Support Center here, and involved U.S. Transportation Command units at Charleston Air Force Base, S.C., and Scott AFB, Ill.
"The tasking flowed from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, through headquarters U.S. European Command, to us," said Maj. Todd Coats, USAFE Air Mobility Operations Control Center major command airlift operations planner. "Everything happened so quickly in the decision-making process with looking at the mission from all the various aspects.
"Before the commander (Gen. Tommy Franks, USCENTCOM commander) could make the final decision, he wanted to know all the options," added Coats. "Each one of those options was a detailed planning effort that had to be carried all the way to fruition to see if it met his goals and objectives."
At the same time the UTASC was working, Allardice received a phone call from Air Mobility Command headquarters at Scott AFB. AMC was requesting a planner and asked Allardice to think about who he needed take on a "possible" humanitarian mission.
"I thought hard about it and was able to come up with my team," said Allardice. "The next morning I received a phone call and was asked to come up with the names. I was able to tell them immediately."
Allardice said the primary team he chose already had some familiarization with the airdrop mission. The team had just participated in a similar training mission with soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C.
"(The OEF mission) wasn't a pickup game; we had already practiced as a team with the 82nd," said Allardice. "A few weeks later, the 82nd commander's words echoed in my head, he said, 'We must practice because we never know when it might be for real.'"
After just nine days of preparation, the Air Force, with U.S. Army Europe assistance, had a Tri-wall Aerial Delivery System production line up and running. TRIADS experts were in place. The C-17s, aircrews and supporting members were in place, and the mission plan was in place. Different country approvals for basings and overflights were received. The operation was ready to begin.
The Mission in Germany
In Charleston, Allardice and his crews were ready to head to Germany. His crews and staff boarded four C-17s and briefed on the mission en route. According to Allardice, no one was allowed to discuss where they were going and what they were doing with anyone until after the execute phase. Once at Ramstein, the C-17 crews had to develop procedures to accomplish the mission.
"We'd never dropped at that altitude and there were no developed procedures," explained Allardice. "Each crew position had to develop its own procedures for five different scenarios. We worked 21 hours a day getting the procedures written and then sent back to Charleston for testing in the simulator there."
Ramstein and Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany, were main staging areas for C-17s and the KC-135 air refueling aircraft, respectively. Rhein-Main also served as the staging area for many military members deploying into the USCENTCOM AOR to support OEF.
"Both bases had huge fuel and beddown requirements, and cargo on- and off-loading," said Coats. "A lot of the supplies and equipment needed downrange came over in contract 747s and C-5 Galaxy aircraft. The cargo was then transferred to C-17s and C-130s, which are more tactically able to go into Afghanistan and some of the other unrefined locations."
The first C-17 humanitarian missions took about 22 hours, "but we reduced it to 16 hours once we gained overflight and basing permissions from other nations," he said.
The OEF humanitarian operation became a coalition effort when KC-135s moved from Rhein-Main to Naval Air Station Souda Bay, Crete, and then to Burgas, Bulgaria, when Souda Bay's runway closed for renovations.
Additionally, coalition support came to Ramstein in the way of German military riggers and German Luftwaffe C-160 aircraft. The German riggers joined U.S. Air Force and Army riggers in building the TRIADS and loading humanitarian daily rations into the containers.
"When our airlift system became full, the Germans offered up C-160s to help with our airlift requirements," said Coats. "It was a full coalition effort with the Turks, Italians, Greeks and Canadians all assisting. We received basing and overflight permissions from the former Soviet Bloc countries of Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, and Ukraine. It was a total 100-percent effort." (Courtesy USAFE News Service)
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