News>Mobility Airmen continue to deliver for warfighters
Photos
Airman 1st Class Andrew Dasilva loads a C-17 Globemaster III with container delivery system bundles Sept. 23, 2009, at an air base in Southwest Asia. The bundles, full of supplies for Marines, will be dropped to a base in Afghanistan. Airman Dasilva is an 8th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron ramp service specialist. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Angelita Lawrence)
Servicemembers load a C-17 Globemaster III with container delivery system bundles Sept. 23, 2009, at an air base in Southwest Asia. More than 4.1 million pounds of supplies were airdropped by the Air Force in the month of September. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Angelita Lawrence)
A loadmaster from the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron waits for the signal to release container delivery system bundles from a C-17 Globemaster III Sept. 23, 2009, over Afghanistan. The bundles, full of supplies for Marines, will be dropped to a base in Afghanistan. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Angelita Lawrence)
Container delivery system bundles full of supplies are dropped out of a C-17 Globemaster III Sept. 23, 2009, over a base in Afghanistan. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Angelita Lawrence)
Container delivery system bundles dropped from a C-17 Globemaster III touch down Sept. 23, 2009, outside a forward operating base in Afghanistan. More than 4 million pounds of supplies were delivered by the Air Force via airdrop in the month of September. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Shawn Weismiller)
by Capt. Frank Hartnett
U. S. Air Forces Central Public Affairs
10/1/2009 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFNS) -- Mobility Airmen delivered 4.1 million pounds of goods were dropped to forward operating bases, combat outposts and other austere locations in support of ground forces in September continuing to feed, fuel and arm the fight.
September marked the fourth consecutive month of an escalation of supplies airdropped by the Airmen to U.S. and coalition partners, as well as to local citizens across Afghanistan.
This tops August's record 3.8 million pounds of supplies delivered and brings the four-month total to 14.5 million pounds.
"The increase in airdropped supplies reflects the Air Force's ability to adapt to support shifting conditions on the ground and provide direct support to the forces actively engaged in counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan," said Col. Keith Boone, the Air Mobility Division director at the Combined Air and Space Operations Center.
Shifting tactics has placed more ground units in remote locations, far from roads and other supply routes, leaving air delivery the only option.
"For a mobility pilot, there is no better feeling than delivering the ammo, water and food to our ground forces," said Lt. Col. Jon Olekszyk, the chief of mobility operations for the Combined Air and Space Operations Center. "They can't continue without the essentials. It's our job to make sure the Marine corporal has ammo for his M-4, fresh chow and clean water to keep him going."
