Airdrop's HQ at Scott Air Force Base gets visit from the droppers

By: Jennifer A. Bowen
U. S. Air Force


Packages can be guided remotely

From packages tossed out of open cockpits during World War I to pallets guided by Global Positioning System equipment and wireless controllers into remote areas, U.S. military airdrops have significantly changed.

"Five days ago, Special Ops forces in Afghanistan needed supplies," said Maj. Gen. Brooks L. Bash, who as director of operations at Air Mobility Command is responsible for policy and procedures for worldwide air operations and transportation functions. "They were on the third day without food or water and weather prevented them from getting out and was making it difficult to get an airdrop in. They were in a remote village in the mountains and the drop zone was no larger than a football field. It was a successful drop and we were able to get 28,000 pounds of food and water to them."

Airdrop was the topic as Missouri Air National Guard members from the Advanced Airlift Tactics Training Center at St. Joseph, Mo., brought their C-130 and equipment to Scott Air Force Base on Thursday to talk to a group of retired military pilots. They discussed the newest technologies that get airdropped supplies to troops efficiently and accurately while keeping the aircraft crews making the deliveries safe from enemy fire.

Fifty years ago airdropped packages could hit a drop zone with about 300 yards of accuracy.

Today, technology has allowed aircraft to drop packages from a higher altitude. The packages can be guided remotely to a drop zone of about 150 yards.

The Army is developing new, lower cost methods to get supplies to troops, including disposable parachutes that cost the military $20 each to deploy. Just a few years ago a similar parachute cost about $600 and could not be expected to be retrieved from the drop zone.

"Airdrop is inherently a joint activity," said Scott Martin, an Army equipment specialist with Force Sustainment Systems, Cargo Airdrop Systems. "The guys on the ground depend on the guys in the air to get them the supplies they need in remote war zones."
Since 2005, Air Mobility Command, headquartered at Scott, has steadily increased the number of air drop deliveries it makes. All the delivery missions are coordinated by personnel from the Tanker Airlift Control Center at the base.

On average, Air Mobility Command oversees 500 bundle drops weekly, which includes missions undertaken by all branches of the service including Air National Guard and Reserve units. So far this year their grand total is 459 million pounds of equipment, ammo, food, water and supplies needed by troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In 2009, the Air Force set airdrop records month after month dropping supplies into Afghanistan. Crews dropped over 30 million pounds.

Last year, there were 650 airdrop missions into Afghanistan. So far this year there have been 1,300 airdrop missions into that country, thanks to the increased number of troops and their remote locations.

The crews who make airdrops not only have to deal with hostile terrain, they also have to deal with enemy fire, other aircraft in the airspace and collateral damage.

"If you drop a package on a house in a village and damage the house, you've lost the fight in that village," Bash said. "We're looking at everything we can do to tailor the missions to the threat to get the guys on the ground the equipment they need to fight the bad guys.

"Today, we are still trying to improve the accuracy of airdrops that continue to improve since we started making drops during World War I."



Posted: 6/16/2010 4:22:28 PM