Operation Air Force puts cadets in the air over Europe

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Scott Wagers
  • Air Force News Agency
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (AFPN) --  The airlift mission prepping to depart here was nothing out-of-the-ordinary for the seasoned C-130 Hercules crew of six. It was another weekly training sortie putting cargo in a drop zone 150 miles away.

For two U.S. Air Force Academy cadets invited to fly with the 37th Airlift Squadron as part of Operation Air Force, it was an opportunity for the junior and senior classmen to see the Hercules up close and witness its capabilities. And they didn't travel to Europe alone.

Throughout the summer from June 9 to August 8, a total of 81 Academy and Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets visited Ramstein Air Base to participate in the hands-on, job-shadow program created by Air Force leaders in 2004.  It was the largest number of cadets sponsored by any oversea base this fiscal year,  according to Lt. Col. Allison Overbay, the U.S. Air Forces in Euope's Operation Air Force director.

"It was important for us to demonstrate to some of our future leaders how Team Ramstein works together to conduct air operations throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East," Colonel Overbay said. "We also strived to create an environment where cadets could better appreciate what everyone on the Air Force team brings to the fight, the teamwork and the culture that exists on every base."

With that in mind, cadets were given operational tours of everything from the shiny halls of NATO headquarters to the 86th Contingency Response Group's weapons armory. There were also social venues hosted by the Academy Association of Graduates, the Company Grade Officer's council and Col. Bill Bender, 86 Airlift Wing commander.

Colonel Overbay said that various officer and enlisted personnel volunteered to be mentors and sponsors for each cadet. Her team paired senior cadets with sponsors who have the same Air Force specialty. Other cadets were matched based on availability of volunteers.

To round out the experience, each cadet was given an incentive flight and a select few were even funded to fly sorties with overnight stays in Spain and Romania. This allowed them to witness the full spectrum of an airlift sortie from initial mission planning to cargo acquisition and delivery, through crew rest, then planning and executing the return flight.

After returning from their first airdrop sortie in a C-130, Cadet 1st Class Matt Sparta and Cadet 2nd Class Erin Keane had a new perspective of the Air Force's oldest tactical airlift platform.

"I was surprised to see how much the pilots actually fly the plane instead of using auto-pilot," said Cadet Sparta, a senior classman whose father was an F-4 Phantom weapons safety officer. "It was like flying an A-10 at low-level."

The 20-year-old from Philadelphia is a pilot candidate who said he'll learn which airframe he will be flying in February 2009.

"I never thought of the C-130 as a combat platform," said 20-year-old Cadet Keane after her flight.

"I thought, wow, somebody could be shooting at us right now," she said remembering the evasive maneuvers she experienced in response to simulated ground fire en route to the drop zone.

"When the pallet went out the back, I thought, 'Somebody on the ground gets to eat this week,'" she said. 

Comment on this story (comments may be published on Air Force Link)

View the comments/letters page