Airmen make history in Iraq

  • Published
  • By Lisa Terry McKeown
  • 43rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs
POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. (AFPN) --  Five Airmen have joined aviation pioneers Gen. Henry H. “Hap” Arnold, Gen. James H. "Jimmy" Doolittle and Brig. Gen. Charles “Chuck” Yeager in a select group -- all are recipients of the Clarence Mackay Trophy.

To the five-person crew, the flight over northern Iraq that put them in the record books was much like any other mission they would fly. To the Iraqi Air Force and those connected with them, it represented much more.

The crewmembers are:

-- Maj. Michael Frame, aircraft commander and instructor pilot. He is assigned to the 41st Airlift Squadron here.

-- Maj. Brian Lewis, instructor pilot, also assigned to the 41st AS.

-- Master Sgt. Thomas Lee, instructor flight engineer, assigned to the 37th AS at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

-- Senior Master Sgt. John Spillane, instructor loadmaster, assigned to the 50th AS at Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark.

-- Master Sgt. Corey Turner, instructor loadmaster, assigned to the 40th AS at Dyess AFB, Texas.

The mission, called “Train 60,” was the first operational combat mission flown by an all-Iraqi aircrew. It was also the first time a U.S. Air Force advisory support team provided initial qualification training while in a combat zone on an operational mission.

As if that weren’t enough, the flight acted as the inaugural Iraqi “Air Force One” by transporting then Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and his deputy from Baghdad to Al Sulaimani, a newly constructed civil airport.

The Airmen were deployed to Iraq to help train Iraqi Air Force crews on C-130 Hercules.

“We were living right with them,” Major Frame said. “It was U.S. tent, Iraqi tent, U.S. tent, Iraqi tent. That was by design so we could get to know each other.”

“The greatest challenge was the language barrier,” Major Lewis said. “If I were to speak something, they would understand what I meant, but if I asked them a question, answering it became a problem.”

After months of training, the first Iraqi crew was ready for initial qualification training.

The U.S. crew was hand-picked by the 18th Air Force commander to fly the Feb. 13, 2005, mission while instructing the Iraqi crew.

It started like any other mission. The crew performed pre-flight checks and helped the passengers prepare for the journey.

“There was one Iraqi Airman in each crew position,” Major Frame said. “It was the pilot’s first flight in the Iraqi C-130E.”

Because the crew was flying into an area they had never been to before, they weren’t sure what to expect.

“We flew up there not knowing if the hills had people with rockets or how secure the area was,” Major Frame said.

“We knew that this particular mission was hazardous due to the nature of flying the prime minister into a new, uncontrolled, unsecured airfield,” Sergeant Spillane said. “We also knew the mission was diplomatically important but we were all just trying to do our job to the best of our ability.”

Mid-flight, the crew was notified that weather conditions at their destination were deteriorating. Because of the weather and the need for quick communication, Major Lewis took control of navigation.

He led the plane on a low-level path through the mountains. Their altitude, about 1,500 feet, combined with the mountainous terrain, made it impossible for radar at Kirkuk Air Base to follow them, so they resorted to visual procedures.

“When we got to the airfield we were looking for a black asphalt runway,” Major Frame said. “We saw a beautiful terminal, but the runway and taxiway didn’t match what we thought they should look like. We checked and saw the coordinates all matched. We did a pass over the field and saw the runway wasn’t suitable for landing. It was about three-quarters of the way complete and was missing large 50-foot sections. The taxiway was complete and was large enough for us to land on.

“There was no communication, no operational tower or anyone with a radio. Nobody had contacted anyone on the ground,” Major Frame said.

The crew did another low pass to look at the taxiway from the side to make sure there were no obstructions along the path.

“We had to transition to assault procedures in mid-flight,” Major Frame said. “Now, I have a guy piloting that I’ve never even seen land on a normal runway, so I ended up coming around and making the landing myself.”

Once on the ground, the prime minister thanked the crews and gave the Iraqi crewmembers gifts to commemorate the historic flight.

“It was exciting because it was historic, but it was just another mission,” Major Lewis said. “I’m just as excited every time we get to take an Army guy when he’s on his way home. You can see the expressions of people getting off the plane that what we’re doing is accomplishing multiple missions. We’re getting guys home that have been working hard and while they were there, they’re doing a job that’s helping the Iraqi people who I consider friends after working with them.”

“My lasting memory of the mission is knowing that there are Americans who will volunteer to fly anywhere at anytime in the name of democracy and protect the United States and our way of life,” Sergeant Spillane said.

“When the weather was deteriorating, when we couldn’t contact anyone on the ground, when we found the airfield was still under construction and different than planned and knowing that security on the ground was less than desired, the crew of Train 60 did what was necessary to get the job done," Sergeant Spillane said. "We made sure we were safe, we took care of our Iraqi students and we delivered in the fashion that the world has come to expect from C-130 tactical airlift crews.”

"It was truly an honor to work with the Iraqi people and help them develop an air force,” Sergeant Turner said. “Many of the Iraqi Airmen faced tremendous pressure from insurgent forces not to be a part of building the new government, and yet they responded with a brave determination to be a part of something special. I was truly impressed and honored to be a part of that team."

The Clarence Mackay Trophy is an annual award given for the most meritorious flight of the year by an Air Force person, persons or organization.

The crew will be presented with their award by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley in November. 

(Public affairs reporters from the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess AFB, Texas, and the 314th Airlift Wing at Little Rock AFB, Ark., contributed to this article.)