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A look back at OEF HUMRO - the operation

Air Mobility Command News

Release Date: 11/04/2002

Editor's note: This is the second of a two-part series looking at the Operation Enduring Freedom Humanitarian Mission. The first part looked at the planning of the mission. 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) - The colonel remembers one mission where he was the lead aircraft in a four-aircraft formation due to winds had to set their airdrop release point over the top of Taliban forces so the humanitarian daily rations would drift to where they were needed. At the same time of the airdrop, coalition fighters and bombers were striking the Taliban.

Col. Bob Allardice, the C-17 deployed commander for the Operation Enduring Freedom Humanitarian Mission and currently, the 62nd Airlift Wing commander, McChord Air Force Base, Wash., remembers that night as one of many where his C-17 crews placed themselves in harm's way to bring relief to the Afghan people.

Staged out of Ramstein, the C-17 Globemaster IIIs from Charleston Air Force Base, S.C., McChord and Altus AFB, Okla., began the operation with only approximately nine days of planning. They received support from U.S. Air Forces in Europe Theater Air and Space Operations Support Center, the 86th Airlift Wing here, Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England, and RAF Lakenheath, England, as well as U.S. Army riggers and German military riggers.

Into Afghanistan

High in the air the night of Oct. 7, 2001, two C-17 aircrews, who had taken off 11 hours before the air tasking order was officially executed, were listening to a British Broadcast Corporation radio station when they heard President (George W.) Bush make his announcement that as we brought the Taliban to justice we would also provide humanitarian relief to the Afghan people.

"From the very first bomb drop, the very first bomber and fighter (into Afghanistan), Air Force C-17s flying out of Ramstein were flying over the northwestern part of Afghanistan to drop HDRs from high altitude in a combat environment with no assurance what it was going to be like," said Gen. John W. Handy, Commander, U.S. Transportation Command and Commander, Headquarters Air Mobility Command. "They were able to drop those HDRs and supply food to the Afghan people and certainly I think that turned the tide in the minds of the Northern Alliance who turned out to be our strongest allies now and many of the people in that part of Afghanistan were able to be nourished and certainly support us in the last year."

Operating at the high altitudes required additional crewmembers, explained Allardice. A standard C-17 crew consists of two pilots and one or two loadmasters depending on the mission.

"The mission was different because we were operating several thousand feet above what we normally operate - about 10 to 15 thousand feet higher (approximately 35,000 feet above ground)," said the colonel. "Physiologically we don't normally fly that high due to the dangers to an individual.

"If someone had come unplugged (from their oxygen source) and was exposed, they would have been unconscious in 30 seconds and dead in five minutes," continued Allardice. "We had to have physiological technicians on board to ensure the safety of the aircrew."

For many, the idea of airdropping food and supplies to the starving Afghan people seemed extreme and expensive since according to many news reports there was plenty of food in storage in Kabul and other main Afghan towns.

"(What many didn't realize) is where we were airdropping food was not in the main cities, we were feeding people who could not get to the large storage areas because their roads had been cutoff, bridges bombed or were afraid to go because of the Taliban," said Maj. Todd Coats, USAFE Air Mobility Operations Control Center major command airlift operations planner. "Yes, it was expensive but what we gained was much more important, we fed people during the winter in a very unpleasant environment. Air to land operations are always more efficient but airdrop was the only option at the time."

Looking back

The 74-day mission ended Dec. 21, 2001, with 198 missions completed. According to the UTASC, more than 2.4 million HDRs were delivered. More than 27,000, 60-pound bags of wheat were airdropped along with 73,000 blankets and 700 tons of clothes, weather gear and other necessities.

The C-17 is a fairly new aircraft to the Air Force inventory. "We are just amazed at how well the aircraft has performed during OEF," said Handy. We saw in the early days (of OEF) where we flew during high altitude airdrops and later we also hauled the Marines into Rhino landing zone at night in combat conditions on a very unimproved strip with minimum support from anyone or anywhere.

"While I like to brag about the C-17, I cannot overlook the contributions of the rest of the airlift and refueling fleet that went into executing (the operation)," said the general. "It does take an entire team."

"This was the longest humanitarian airdrop mission ever (distance-wise), we flew from Ramstein to Afghanistan and were flying over countries that 10 - 12 years ago we were standing on alert guarding against," said Coats. "The coalition coming together was a huge success."

The distance between Ramstein and Afghanistan was a concern with Air Force senior leaders said Allardice. "It was a burden (to fly so far), we could have operated (flying-wise) closer to the AOR but people really didn't appreciate the work it took to produce the TRIADS/HDR system.

"During the operation there was a one-mile long hangar of HDR containers," Allardice added. "The production took an enormous commitment of Ramstein, the riggers from the Air Force, Army and German military. There were 40 people per shift 24-hours a day. Ramstein was absolutely critical, further downrange (at a not already established forward location) we would not have been able to build the product."

The USAFE AMOCC commander, Col. Jan Swickard, added that the OEF HUMRO was "a good news story on the capabilities of the U.S. military." He also added that the operation would not had been as successful if a robust infrastructure had not already been in place. "We were able to make these things happen because we are positioned as well as we are in this theater that we are able to react quickly."

Coats considered the joint and coalition efforts to be the best of his 20 years in the Air Force. "I saw the time when all the services were stove-piped, joint and combined operations were tough then. Getting to this point, the challenges that were there were easy to overcome."

"We made it look easy but it was not, it took phenomenal training at both the unit and Air Force level to integrate the assets with the precision we did," Allardice said. "It was an extraordinary team effort, all the missions were completed without injury or mishap." (Courtesy USAFE News Service)