Dover Reserve aircrew supports Canada's Operation Boxtop

  • Published
  • By Capt. Marnee A.C. Losurdo
  • 512th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. (AFNS) --  The Air Force Reserve Command's 326th Airlift Squadron put another "pin" on the map due to its recent support of Canadian Operation Boxtop.

The aircrew's mission was to deliver a Halverson 25K-loader to Thule Air Base, Greenland, for transport to a Canadian air base referred to as Canadian Forces Station Alert, in the Arctic, 507 miles from the geographic North Pole.

The C-17 Globemaster III crew hauled the piece of equipment, which lifts and transports pallets up to 25,000 pounds, to support the Canada Command resupply mission. The operation is conducted twice a year to provide fuel, food, dry goods and other supplies to the personnel stationed at the world's northernmost bases, CFS Alert and CFS Eureka on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian territory of Nunavut.

The bi-annual shipments are an essential lifeline for the 55 people stationed at CFS Alert who endure extreme weather to include temperatures as low as -40 degrees Fahrenheit, said Col. Craig LaFave, the 326th AS commander.

"The Boxtop mission allowed us to help out the Canadians and also provided us with an opportunity to get some polar operations training," the colonel said.

Flying in the Arctic can be a challenge for aviators, Colonel LaFave said. The earth has a true north and a magnetic north. The magnetic north, which tends to shift, refers to the poles of the Earth's magnetic field. Compasses are attracted to the magnetic North Pole, which is 596 miles northwest of the true north, or geographic North Pole. When flying in the Arctic, pilots have to account for this error and correct their headings to the true north.

Maj. Mark Chagaris, 326th AS director of operations, was on the mission and said he benefited from this experience.

"We recently did training where we talked about polar flying so it was nice to have the real-world application of that training," he said.

The trek to the Arctic began Aug. 12, when the Reserve crew flew to 8 Wing at Canadian Forces Base Trenton in Ontario. The next day, the reservists loaded the cargo and made the trip to Thule AB. The K-loader was off-loaded by the Canadians who transported the equipment the remaining 400 miles to CFS Alert. For Operation Boxtop, supplies are staged at Thule AB, where Canadian C-130 Hercules crews deliver the cargo to CFS Alert and CFS Eureka.

The people at CFS Alert, originally established as a weather station, gather signals intelligence in support of military operations. They also maintain radio facilities to support research and rescue operations, according to the Canada Command website.

Originally, the 326th AS crew was hoping to fly the cargo all the way to CFS Alert. But, the remote station has a semi-improved runway made of gravel on permafrost and U.S. Air Force officials don't have a landing zone survey for that type of runway, so U.S. Air Force C-17s are not yet allowed to land there, Colonel LaFave said.

Currently, Canadians are validating the runway's usability for C-17s with missions to the Arctic station, Major Chagaris said. In fact, according to a Canadian news report, a CFB Trenton aircrew landed a C-17 loaded with 100,000 pounds of fuel and cargo Aug. 15 using only 3,100 feet of CFS Alert's 5,100-foot runway. Typically, about 30 C-130 flights are required to transport supplies to the station. C-17s can transport the same amount of cargo in 10 flights.

The idea to support Operation Boxtop came about from earlier efforts in August and September 2009 to initiate a sister squadron program with the 8 Wing, the heart of Canada's air mobility forces and located at one of the largest air force bases in Canada.

Colonel LaFave said he came up with the idea of pairing up with the Canadians while working as the 512th Airlift Wing program integration officer when the 326th AS transitioned to the C-17 in 2007 and 2008.

"It's a way to allow our crews and unit personnel to exchange unclassified tactics, techniques and procedures while building camaraderie with our Canadian allies," Colonel LaFave said.

Plans are in the works for future partnering opportunities.

As it stands, the C-17 flight to Greenland is the farthest north a 326th AS C-17 aircrew has traveled, Major Chagaris said. The major said he hopes they can assist the Canadians again next year with Boxtop, but rather than stop in Greenland they hope to make the trek all the way to CFS Alert.