MANSFIELD, Ohio–“Weight and balance” is how Tech Sgt. Bryan Thompson of Mount Vernon, Ohio described his job as a loadmaster. On a frigid February morning, I was speaking with six of the 17 certified loadmasters with the 164th Airlift Squadron as they prepared for a training flight.
The 164th is part of the 179th Operations Group at the Ohio Air National Guard’s, 179th Airlift Wing, Mansfield Lahm Airport.
The loadmaster is a key member of any cargo flight crew. Depending on the cargo, one or two of them are part of any mission on the C-130 Hercules (C-130H) based at the 179th. Loadmasters secure and balance the aircraft cargo. In the case of an airdrop where the cargo is parachuted to troops or civilians on the ground, they are responsible for its safe release. The job is a critical one. When the cargo is measured in tons, mistakes can be fatal.
To make that point, the loadmasters that morning described a video that had made the news a couple years ago of a civilian cargo plane taking off from Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan. It was loaded with five armored vehicles weighing a total of 156,000 pounds. A dashboard camera in a vehicle on the ground captured what appeared to be a normal takeoff. Then the nose of the 747 jackknifed upward causing the plane to stall and lose lift. Seconds later, it hit the ground, bursting into a fireball.
Investigation of the flight found that the crash was a case of weight and balance. One or more of the armored vehicles had broken free during the ascent, shifting the balance of the weight to the rear. With nearly 18 tons forcing the tail down, the nose of the plane had nowhere to go but up. That’s why properly trained loadmasters are essential to every cargo mission.
The training flight was a check flight for Tech Sgt. Thompson along with Master Sgt. David Pitroff of Dublin, Ohio. They were the loadmasters for the mission which was an airdrop onto a targeted drop zone. They would be evaluated on safety and their ability to follow procedures.
Also talking with me were Staff Sgt. Alex Elmlinger, a loadmaster from Willard, Ohio and Tech. Sgt. Stephen McGlamory, a newly certified loadmaster from Orrville, Ohio. Elmlinger was there to log needed flight hours while McGlamory was being oriented to the base. They are traditional guardsmen — “weekend warriors”–though missions often call them to duty more than the official two days a month. Every 18-24 months they can also be deployed anywhere in the world from Afghanistan to Antarctica.
Tech Sgt. Andrew Ensman and Senior Master Sgt. Christopher Morehead were there as federally employed loadmasters, meaning they were full-time guardsmen. They explained how the mission process worked for the loadmasters.
They receive a cargo list and a load plan from 179th Operations Group Mission Planning. They double check the calculations to make sure the weight falls within allowed limits and is evenly distributed. The 179th Aerial Port Squadron rigs and delivers the cargo to the aircraft and then the loadmasters take command of the loading process to ensure the cargo is properly loaded into the cargo bay.
Eventually we made our way out to the plane. The skies were a brilliant blue. It was bitterly cold and white clouds of deicer enveloped the tail as Maintenance cleared the aircraft of ice and snow. The interior of the aircraft was mostly cargo bay. They told me that the C-130H is one of the most adaptable cargo planes in the U.S. Air Force. “If it fits, it ships,” they said.
The two loads to be dropped that day were secured onto steel tracks running along the floor. The tracks are steel roller bearings that run the entire 41 feet of the cargo bay. The largest platform mimicked a heavy load and it spanned the width of the plane.
The smaller platform is a container delivery system (CDS) bundle which are used to deliver loose supplies such as food, water, medical supplies, and ammunition. Its footprint was much smaller and secured but not on the tracks.
Meanwhile, the cockpit crew members were beginning their final mission preparations. The mission was a go as long as their pre-flight check was good.
I left to go out to the drop zone with Maj. James Law, a Weapons and Tactical officer with Mission Planning. He “built” the mission.
Law said, “Building the mission means calculating the logistics. It plans out who needs to be involved: when, where and what equipment needed to be procured. The plan lets everyone involved know what route is going to be flown.” With most of his work done, he headed out to help set up the target.
Law said he had maybe seen the target hit dead-on once. “There are a lot of factors involved, but most get it within 100 yards,” he said.
A member of the 200th RED HORSE Squadron DET 1 with a front-end loader was making a path through the snow to the target area when we arrived. I was excited to see an airdrop. Then a call came in. The pre-flight check by the aircrew had turned up a problem. Maintenance was on their way out. Fifteen minutes later, the mission was canceled.
I was disappointed. For Law and the rest of the airmen, the cancellation was part of the job. “The day wasn’t a total loss,” said Law with a smile. “Snow’s cleared.”
Editor’s Note: This is the second story in the “Embedded at the 179th” series.
