Nearly 76 Million Pounds Of Cargo Delivered
In 2011, mobility Airmen delivering airdrops reached a new
annual record with 75,956,235 pounds of cargo delivered, according
to a USAF news release. That's nearly 16 million more pounds
delivered than the previous record set in 2010 of 60,400,000. At
more than 75.9 million pounds - that's the equivalent of standing
on a mountain top and watching 553 Army M1 Abrams tanks -- or even
11,868 Chevrolet Silverado trucks -- floating down from the sky
with parachutes to a landing zone.
The record number, as recorded by Air Forces Central's Combined
Air Operations Center at a non-disclosed base in Southwest Asia, is
also larger than the total number of pounds delivered in
Afghanistan by airdrop from 2006 to 2009 which combined is
60,525,969 pounds. On average mobility Airmen airdropped 6,329,686
pounds of cargo each month in 2011. Mobility Airmen completing the
airdrops flew C-130 Hercules and C-17 Globemaster III aircraft from
various deployed bases. They also completed the airdrops in various
forms - from the the use of the traditional Container Delivery
System, or CDS, bundles to the Joint Precision Airdrop System, or
JPADS.
In November 2011, one U.S. Army discussed the importance of
airdrops and how good they are getting after receiving a JPADS
airdrop at Combat Outpost Herrera. "I was real skeptical (of JPADS)
at first," said Army Capt. Brandon Kimbrel, COP Herrera commander,
in a Nov. 27 report by Staff Sgt. David Salanitri and Senior Airman
Patrick McKenna of U.S. Air Forces Central Public Affairs in
Southwest Asia. "After the drop, I was real impressed. We didn't
see or hear the 'bird' at all. All of a sudden, we looked up and
saw parachutes above us."
In the same AFCENT Public Affairs report, Army Staff Sgt. Denton
Poe, 1st platoon sergeant at COP Herrera, said airdrops are vital.
"We're surrounded by mountains -- the snow sets in. The helicopter
passes are impassible by helicopter and the roads could be clogged
up," Poe said in the report. "Utilizing airdrops with the
GPS-guided parachutes allows us that avenue to use in case we can't
get resupplied by helicopters or vehicles by the road, which is a
typical case come winter here."
Perfecting the use of airdrops for combat resupply as well as for
humanitarian purposes continues to grow in the Air Force. In July
2011, Air Mobility Command led an international communication
effort by holding the first International Airdrop Symposium at
Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.
According to Maj. Patrick Linson, symposium chairperson from St.
Joseph, Mo., where he serves as a combat tactics instructor in the
Advanced Airlift Tactics Training Center, or AATTC, the symposium
was important "to build international partnerships in the airdrop
and airlift communities."
The goal of the organizers, Linson said, was to have participating
international partners share their ideas and techniques. For the
Air Force, the lessons learned from Afghanistan airdrops were
particularly important. "Sharing these techniques was naturally
beneficial to all involved," Linson added.
Numbers aside, the most important factor behind the high number
of airdrops may be the possible lives saved by keeping convoys off
the road in the remote, land-locked areas of Afghanistan and the
future potential for Air Force airdrop operations.