Expeditionary airlifters fly air convoys

Published July 11, 2007
By Capt. Teresa Sullivan
379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- Over the past 12 months, Airmen of the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron have transported the equivalent of Colorado Springs' population, each person carrying a million pounds, back and forth to the Middle East 700 times.

The 816th EAS, a tenant unit of the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing, reached its one year anniversary mark recently and the numbers speak for themselves.

-- Approximately 370,000 passengers flown.
-- 370 million pounds of cargo on about 80,000 pallets delivered.
-- About 20,000 hours of flying throughout Southwest Asia.

And everything moved in direct support of the Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines on the ground for operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. For every airlift sortie of the more than 13,000 flown over the past year, there were less convoys out in harm's way as a result.

"When you're focused on the mission day in and day out you don't always take the time to look back on all that you've done and the impact you've made," said Lt. Col. Paul Eberhart, the 816th EAS commander deployed from Charleston Air Force Base, S.C. "Every day we try to make improvements. We've come a long way over the past year and have made monumental strides.

"We're in the business of flying air convoys," said Colonel Eberhart, a native of Baldwin City, Kan. "What we do not only gets people and cargo to the right place at the right time, but it also reduces the amount of convoys and the threat for our ground forces in Iraq and Afghanistan -- saving the lives of the people on the road."

Squadron members credit new processes and great continuity for their successes in the area of operations.

"The 816th was officially stood up here in June 2006 and each of the four squadrons came from Charleston AFB, commanded by the four sitting squadron commanders there," Colonel Eberhart said. "It helps that the four of us came from the same place, but even more interesting is the fact that we were all captains together. We've grown up in this business together."

The commanders over the past year included Lt. Col. Lenny Richoux, the 17th Airlift Squadron commander; Lt. Col. Ricky Rupp, the 14th Airlift Squadron commander; Lt. Col. Dale Anderson, the 15th Airlift Squadron commander; and now Colonel Eberhart. Each commander brought their entire squadron here from Charleston AFB for the 120-day tour allowing them to "fight the way they train" -- and with the same Airmen and leadership.

"The way we deploy now, as a squadron, with the predictability of the 120-day cycles, promotes a great quality of life for us," Colonel Eberhart said. "Since we've trained together as a team, we're able to accomplish more when we get here with less fatigue related and continuity issues. It also provides a more stable home life."

One intangible accomplishment the four commanders share is the high morale of the squadron. Now the men and women of the 816th EAS will wear their new Air Force-approved patch, with roots dating as far back as 1944 when the 816th was an aerial bombardment squadron. The patch, light blue with a yellow-winged skeleton in a red robe hurling a blue aerial bomb, then signified the intent of the bombardment squadron's mission of dropping bombs on target and now signifies their current mission of delivering beans, bullets and troops to the fight.

The squadron will be wearing the expeditionary subdued version on their flight suits with pride, the colonel said.

"Our C-17 Globemaster III roots go back to the 1940s and to historical operations such as the Berlin Airlift," he said. "We have an Air Force lineage that we're proud of and the patch allows us to embrace our history here at the 816th."

The 816th EAS has not only been equipped to support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, but they've also been charged with responding to other world events over the past 365 days.

"As part of our flexibility and global reach, we not only support OIF and OEF, but also can be called upon to respond in other areas, such as humanitarian missions, natural disasters or other contingencies worldwide," Colonel Eberhart said.

Squadron Airmen were called upon to fulfill a short-notice tasking to deliver ammunition to the Lebanese armed forces in Beirut in late May. They delivered hundreds of pallets of cargo to assist another country in need, while seamlessly supporting operations over Iraq, Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa, the colonel said.

"We can take cargo where commercial carriers can't go. We can deliver people and supplies with pinpoint precision to people who need them, and we'll continue to do whatever it is we can do to support national objectives," the colonel said. "This year has come and gone quickly, but what the men and women serving in the 816th can always carry with them is the fact that they've made a difference in this war on terrorism. They've done it with honor and in the same air mobility tradition that General William Tunner would have been proud to witness."

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