News>C-130 squadron first to perform new airdrop method
Photos
A C-130J Hercules sits on the flightline as crews work to prepare the aircraft for an airdrop mission April 29, 2013, at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan. The airdrop mission was the first use of Extracted Container Delivery System in Afghanistan, a new, more accurate, method of airdrop designed to pull the bundles out of the aircraft faster. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Scott Saldukas)
Airmen prepare a C-130J Hercules for an airdrop mission April 2, 2013, at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan. The airdrop mission was the first use of Extracted Container Delivery System in Afghanistan, a new, more accurate, method of airdrop designed to pull the bundles out of the aircraft faster than a normal airdrop, while resulting in a smaller dispersion of bundles in the drop zone. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Scott Saldukas)
Crewmembers make final adjustments before loading cargo onto a C-130J Hercules for the first Extracted Container Delivery System in Afghanistan mission April 29, 2013, at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Scott Saldukas)
Master Sgt. DeMond Connors (right) holds the measuring tape while Airman 1st Class Justin McKenzie cuts a length of 550 cord to tie together bundles on a C-130J Hercules April 29, 2013. Both Airmen are with the 772nd Expeditionary Airlift Squadron and were securing the bundles as part of Extracted Container Delivery System, a new, more accurate, method of airdrop designed to pull the bundles out of the aircraft faster. Connors and McKenzie are both deployed from Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Scott Saldukas)
Senior Airman Marisa Powers reviews technical specifications for securing airdrop bundles in the new Extracted Container Delivery System, April 29, 2013 at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan. Powers is a 772nd Expeditionary Airlift Squadron loadmaster and was on the first airdrop mission in Afghanistan to use XCDS, a new, more accurate, method of airdrop designed to pull the bundles out of the aircraft faster. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Scott Saldukas)
Master Sgt. DeMond Connors (left), Airman 1st Class Justin McKenzie, and Senior Airman Marisa Powers review a technical manual while preparing cargo for an airdrop using the Extracted Container Delivery System, April 29, 2013, at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan. The lessons learned rigging the XCDS on this mission were used in later missions, decreasing the time needed to prep the airdrop. Connors, McKenzie and Powers are loadmasters with the 772nd Expeditionary Airlift Squadron. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Scott Saldukas)
Crewmembers make final preparations before launching the first Extracted Container Delivery System airdrop mission in combat, April 29, 2013 near Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan. The mission highlighted the benefits of XCDS, which uses a parachute to pull the bundles out of the aircraft faster while also creating smaller dispersion, resulting in a more accurate airdrop and easier pickup for Soldiers on the ground. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Scott Saldukas)
Crewmembers make final preparations before launching the first Extracted Container Delivery System airdrop mission in combat, April 29, 2013 at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan. The mission highlighted the benefits of XCDS, which uses a parachute to pull the bundles out of the aircraft faster while also creating smaller dispersion, resulting in a more accurate airdrop and easier pickup for Soldiers on the ground. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Scott Saldukas)
by Capt. Brian Maguire
451st Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
5/6/2013 - KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- The 772nd Expeditionary Airlift Squadron executed the first combat Extracted Container Delivery System, or XCDS, airdrop April 29, successfully demonstrating the increased accuracy that this new technology provides.
The new airdrop method is designed to pull the bundles out of the aircraft at a faster rate than the current airdrop process, which improves the overall accuracy of the drop itself.
"Normally a bundle falls out of the aircraft due to gravity, with the speed mostly dependent on the deck angle of the aircraft," said Capt. Raeanna Elms, with the 772nd EAS. "With XCDS, there is an additional parachute attached to a group of bundles, that pulls them out of the aircraft together and at a faster speed, resulting in a smaller dispersion area on the ground."
For the loadmasters working with the CDS bundles, the new method adds more complexity to the rigging inside the aircraft, said Senior Airman Marisa Powers, a loadmaster with the 772nd EAS.
Because of the added complexity, Powers and her fellow loadmaster on the mission were very thorough in their preparations.
"We needed to seriously hit the books more than usual, get in there and read everything a million times and understand," said Powers, who is a Coventry, R.I., native and deployed from the 143rd Airlift Wing of the Rhode Island National Guard. "My partner and I felt like we did a great job, sitting there for a solid two hours and highlighting, saying 'This is what I feel like is important and we'll go over it again tonight.'"
Crews with the 772nd EAS received some XCDS training back at home station before deploying. For Powers, the training included one flight back in the states, plus ground qualification. They came qualified, but the new procedures still had a learning curve.
"It was definitely a little more complicated of a drop," Powers said. "Because it was the first time in theater we obviously didn't want to mess it up, but we went line by line, sentence by sentence to double, triple check that every tie was made right, that every knot was in place."
In the end, it's the mission the crews look toward, she said.
"It's the safety of the guys on the other end receiving it," Powers said. "It's all about helping the guys downrange."
Seeing the bundles pulled out of the back of the aircraft, rather than trickling out as usual, was an unsual sight, Powers said. After the bundles had landed, however, the accuracy of the XCDS drop was proven -- the dispersion of the bundles on the drop zone was about two-thirds smaller, highlighting the value of the XCDS method in having the best placement for the Soldiers.
"Our goal is to get the people on the ground what they need, where they want it," said Elms, who is deployed from Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark. "Plus, since we're trying to build a positive relationship with the local people, we want a more accurate airdrop method that reduces the risk of a stray bundle damaging their homes and crops."
Comments
5/14/2013 5:04:48 PM ET Everything old is new again... Rest Assured the cirlce of life is complete and the USAF WIC Patcher Wearer is secure in hisher personage
Maj S, DMAFB
5/7/2013 10:19:47 PM ET Robert don't worry I'm sure they reinvented the wheel instead of pulling the TTP of the shelf so some WIC grad could get promoted.
Lt Col, Home for a change
5/7/2013 8:54:14 AM ET Great photos
Phil, Washington D.C.
5/7/2013 8:45:58 AM ET I don't think this is new. We were doing this type of drop in the 80's on Talon's.
