Airmen make drops in Thailand

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Michael Farris
  • 353rd Special Operation Group Public Affairs
BAN NONG SONG, Thailand (AFPN) --  “Kanto 95, winds are light, you’re cleared to drop.”

As the C-130 Hercules from the 36th Airlift Squadron at Yokota Air Base, Japan, rumbled overhead at 600 feet, the cargo was released and floated under a full canopy into a dormant rice paddy.

Five people from the 353rd Operations Support Squadron’s aerial delivery branch have coordinated four different types of airdrops with five different flying units during Cobra Gold 04.

Resupply training is important because it allows aircrews to practice making the drops on time and on target, said Master Sgt. Roger Brown of the 353rd OSS.

“They maintain their proficiency through repetition,” he said. “Repetitions make it second nature.”

The aircrews’ target is a fluorescent orange panel the aerial-delivery specialists erect in the field. They ensure the zone is safe and then clear the aircrew to drop via line-of-sight radio. The drops May 22 were good -- both within 100 feet, said Master Sgt. Andre Baker of the 353rd OSS.

The packages vary from the smallest -- sandbags used to simulate individual jumpers -- to the heaviest, which are only limited by what the aircraft can carry. Most common among the heaviest is the container delivery system which can weigh up to 2,300 pounds.

Staff Sgt. Christopher Keeter is a new rigger with the 353rd OSS and got his first taste of aerial delivery here during Cobra Gold.

“I came from an aerial port post where I didn’t do these types of jobs,” he said. “Among other things, I’ve learned how to score the drops, build CDS bundles and identify points-of-impact with a handheld Global Positioning (System device).”

The logistics of navigating around rural Thailand and trying to find a specified point on the planet is sometimes a challenge.

“Occasionally we have to shoo water buffalos from the drop zone,” Sergeant Baker said. “So far, they’ve been compliant and haven’t given us any trouble.”

Working with several units spread out at different places and coordinating flight schedules can also be challenging.

“We’re working with the Royal Thai air force, U.S. Marine units, a C-130 unit from Yokota and two squadrons from the 353rd Special Operations Group,” Sergeant Brown said. “Our goal is to support every drop they wish to make.”

Cobra Gold is an exercise designed to improve U.S., Thai, Singaporean, Mongolian and Filipino combined readiness and interoperability, enhance security relationships and demonstrate U.S. resolve in the region.