[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 40 (Thursday, April 14, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 14, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                       THE 38TH AIRLIFT SQUADRON

  Mr. FORD. Mr. President, this past winter, stepped up violence and 
harsh weather in Bosnia required an increase in United States aircraft, 
missions, and personnel. This increase resulted in the reactivation of 
the famous 38th Airlift Squadron, better known as the Delta Squadron.
  This squadron was an active duty last response airlift unit that 
could be called up for any mission during the early cold war years, 
until it was finally deactivated in 1977.
  For the first time in history, this entire airlift squadron is made 
up entirely of Guard and Reserve personnel and aircraft. And I am proud 
to say, its flight commander is Lt. Col. Rick Ash of the Kentucky Air 
National Guard.
  A recent article from the National Guard magazine chronicles many of 
the accomplishments of the Delta Squadron in Bosnia and exemplifies the 
large role the National Guard and Air Reserve play in crucial tactical 
airlift missions. I ask unanimous consent that the article be printed 
in the Record immediately after my remarks.
  Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to read this article, because the 
Senate will soon consider the fiscal year 1995 Defense Department 
authorization legislation.
  In that authorization is an effort by the active duty Air Force to 
place more reliance on their own forces, which have older and less 
cost-efficient C-130's, and less on the Guard and Reserve forces.
  I firmly believe this decision would be casting aside a more cost-
effective alternative.
  Clearly, the Air National Guard's ability to perform is 
unquestionable. We need only look to their performance in Desert Storm, 
Somalia, and Bosnia for proof. And clearly, emphasizing integration of 
all forces with heavy reliance on the Guard is more cost effective and 
in no way jeopardizes our Air Force readiness.
  That is why a Senate Armed Services Committee report recommended a 
provision directing the Secretary of Defense to transfer the tactical 
airlift mission exclusively to the Air National Guard and Air Force 
Reserve.
  Because the Air Force chose to follow a very different course, I have 
sent a letter to Armed Services chairman Sam Nunn, asking that as we 
look at possible reductions we reject the Active Duty Air Force 
proposal and instead approve a stepped-up role for the Guard and 
Reserve.
  The Air National Guard/Reserve role in tactical airlift should be 
expanded because the quality of the Air Guard and Reserve's readiness, 
personnel, and equipment has never been at a higher level. The Air 
Guard and Air Reserve already represents over 65 percent of the total 
tactical force structure. And Bosnia is only one example of their 
stellar performance.
  Mr. President, in closing, I once again urge my colleagues to read 
this article and to support a solution that takes into consideration 
both our pressing fiscal restraints and the need for a national 
security force with the highest quality tactical airlift capabilities.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

Flying the Bomb-Ridden Skies Over Bosnia and Herzegovina--Kentucky Air 
  Guard Officer Commands Famous Reactivated Delta Squadron as Mission 
                            Grows Dangerous

    (By Lt. Col. Edward W. Tonini, HQ, Kentucky Air National Guard)

       The historic Berlin Airlift, which took place in 1948 and 
     1949, had been the longest sustained relief effort in U.S. 
     Air Force history until Operation Provide Promise. Today's 
     humanitarian relief operation, which has been providing the 
     basics of life to the people of war-torn Bosnia-Herzegovina, 
     surpassed Berlin's milestone on October 8, 1993--last year!
       By the end of February, Provide Promise had been in 
     operation for 605 days, which dwarfs the Berlin Airlift 
     record of 462 days. The humanitarian relief operation is 
     conducted by the United States, Germany and France as part of 
     the multinational United Nations (UN) effort to provide food, 
     clothing, equipment and medical supplies to the victims--
     Muslim and Christian--of the Serb-Croat-Bosnian war.
       Almost two years ago, on July 3, 1992, the Air Force began 
     flying in food supplies and equipment into Sarajevo. However, 
     the war ravaged the citizenry so much that Provide Promise 
     required Air Guard and Air Force Reserve volunteer units and 
     equipment to work with the U.S. Air Force in Europe (USAFE) 
     and other active duty units from the Continental United 
     States (CONUS) to deliver the much needed food and supplies.
       As of February 1, 1994, the Air National Guard and the Air 
     Force Reserve have airlifted more than 34,423 tons of 
     supplies, food and equipment into Sarajevo, and airdropped 
     14,567.8 tons of food, 192 tons of medical supplies and 280.2 
     tons of winterization bundles into eastern Bosnia-
     Herzegovina.
       As the conflict increased in violence and the winter 
     weather grew harsher, the Air National Guard and Air Force 
     Reserve mission requirements were increased from six to 15 C-
     130s, with aircrews doubling to 24 and more than 200 
     maintenance personnel. The increase in aircraft, missions and 
     personnel turned into the reactivation of the famed 38th 
     Airlift Squadron (AS)--better known as the Delta Squadron.
       The Delta Squadron was an active duty fast response airlift 
     unit on the ready for any requirement during the early Cold 
     War years from Rhine-Main, Germany, until 1977, when it was 
     deactivated. For the first time in history, this fast 
     response airlift squadron is entirely made up of Guard and 
     Reserve personnel and aircraft.
       With Delta Squadron's reactivation came Lt Col Rick Ash, a 
     flight commander of the Kentucky Air National Guard's 123d 
     Airlift Wing (AW), the first Air National Guard commander of 
     the Delta Squadron. Ash, an American Airlines pilot, is 
     commanding the unit for three months from February to the end 
     of this month. But in all actuality, it's not a new mission. 
     In fact, it is quite familiar because he spent 30 days last 
     August as the mission commander of Provide Promise's Guard 
     and Reserve elements. During that first tour of duty, he 
     commanded six C-130s, their crews and the support personnel.
       Of his newest command responsibilities, he said: ``The job 
     is very similar, just on a much larger scale. American 
     Airlines has been very supportive of the Guard and Reserve 
     commitment by its employees. They were great during Desert 
     Storm, and they are continuing their support throughout 
     Restore Hope and now Provide Promise. The chief pilot at 
     American believes this is a unique leadership opportunity 
     that will be advantageous to me and to American Airlines.''
       Delta Squadron's normal schedule is four C-130 aircraft 
     flying multiple shuttles into Sarajevo daily. Each mission, 
     originating from Rhein-Main Air Base (AB), and the full 
     length of a single mission, to include stops, is 11 hours. 
     Most important is the fact that each flight varies, not all 
     flights fly the same route and up to three landings in 
     Sarajevo are scheduled for each aircraft.
       An average of 12 C-130s, one French and three German C-160 
     Transalls fly each day to identified areas that UN convoys 
     cannot reach to deliver the much needed food or medical 
     supplies. To make the airdrops and simultaneously avoid 
     ground fire, the C-130s must complete high altitude 
     airdrops--well over 10,000 feet. Even though a C-130 presents 
     itself as a very large, relatively slow flying target to 
     potential hostile fire, its airdrop precision is just as 
     accurate as those from altitudes less than a third as high. 
     Kentucky completed its first high altitude drop on March 17, 
     1993.
       Another declared first was accomplished 10 days later, when 
     the Kentucky Air Guard joined in airdrop operations with the 
     French and the Germans. The Air Force has called this the 
     first joint formation airdrop of allied forces in flying 
     history in a combat environment.
       Landing at the Sarajevo Airport is no easy task. The C-130s 
     come down at up to 2,000 feet a minute, twice as fast as a 
     normal decent. Their pace must slow during final descent, 
     however. The takeoffs also are much steeper than normal. This 
     is done to limit the aircraft's exposure to small arms fire 
     from the ground. Involved since February 26, 1993, two of 
     Kentucky's C-130H2s were assigned to the mission and, at this 
     time, 90 percent of the unit has either performed or is 
     performing the mission.
       Nor is the mission getting any easier, according to the 
     Guard members. On January 19, while the C-130 was being 
     unloaded of 31,000 pounds of flour on the ground, a Kentucky 
     aircrew experienced exploding mortar rounds within 200 yards 
     of it on the Sarajevo airport runway. When the plane later 
     landed at Split, Croatia, four holes were discovered in the 
     aircraft.
       While on the ground, the Kentucky crew, consisting of Maj 
     Mark Heininger, Capt Steven Cochran, MSgt Jose Fernandez and 
     SrAm Robert Allen, that was flying an Air Force Reserve C-
     130, kept the engines running as loadmasters unloaded the 
     vital cargo through the rear door with help from UN ground 
     crews. Unloading taking an average of 12 minutes. But for the 
     anxious aircrew members, that 12 minutes is like eternity 
     because of the potential of being hit by mortars and snipers 
     from the surrounding hills.
       The Kentucky crew discovered its battle damage on the 
     ground in Split, with holes in its left wing near the engine, 
     the left wing near the fuel tank, the tip of the right wing 
     and the fourth hole in the fuselage toward the rear of the 
     cargo bay. A day earlier, a German cargo plane also had been 
     hit by gunfire at the airport. No one was injured in either 
     incident, but UN officials suspended aid flights to the 
     Bosnian capital until the situation had stabilized.
       Heininger and his crew returned to Kentucky over varying 
     times and they all said they have no qualms about going back. 
     The reason: The humanitarian aid flights are the main 
     lifeline for the almost 400,000 residents of Sarajevo, who 
     are enduring their second winter under Serb siege. ``We never 
     want to lose sight of what this is all about,'' Ash said. 
     ``We're helping keep a lot of innocent people alive.''
       Today, two Kentucky C-130s and about 40 unit members are 
     attached to the Delta Squadron and operating out of Rhein-
     Main AB under the command of the 435th Airlift Wing, U.S. Air 
     Force. All are volunteers; since whole units are not being 
     activated for the mission. The length of the individual tours 
     depend upon their personal availability. Some Guard members 
     are serving as little as two weeks and others have been on 
     duty for more than four months.
       Ultimately, most of the Guard units participating in 
     Provide Promise have all their unit members at one time or 
     another participate in a deployment outside of the United 
     States. With the situation as it is now in Bosnia-
     Herzegovina, it doesn't look like there will be any let up 
     from the demand of C-130 airlift support.
       The Kentucky Guard unit has the newest equipped C-130H2 
     aircraft, which enables it to meet the high accuracy rate 
     that it does at the high altitude airdrops. The accurate 
     drops are achieved through the satellite-derived global 
     positioning, inertial navigation systems, coupled with the 
     adverse weather aerial delivery systems (AWADS). These 
     systems enable the bundles to drop with almost pinpoint 
     accuracy. The parachutes bring the bundles to earth at about 
     60 miles per hour and special packaging techniques ensure the 
     survival of the contents. On one occasion, 4,000 glass vials 
     of penicillin were dropped near a hospital and not one was 
     broken.
       New procedures developed during Provide Promise have 
     revolutionized airdrops. They include the 10,000-plus-foot 
     drop and the Tri-Wall Aerial Delivery System. Better known as 
     TRIADS, the system has proved to be an effective way of 
     ensuring large numbers of people receive food without the 
     strongest controlling or hoarding what is delivered. The C-
     130s also are equipped with the latest in self-contained 
     navigation systems (SCNS) and aircraft defense systems (ADS).
       Besides the supply delivery mission, the Delta Squadron 
     also has been called upon to perform medevac missions since 
     February 2, last year. The Air Force flies a C-9 medevac 
     twice a month into the former Yugoslavia. Kentucky Air 
     National Guard C-130s were used to evacuate injured Bosnians, 
     Serbs and Croats to Ramstein AB, Germany, after the recent 
     downtown market bombing that has since promoted the allied 
     no-fly zone restrictions and other increased UN involvement.
       The outcome, of course, is not over. The negotiations 
     continue. The battle weary citizens continue to face death 
     daily. Serbian aircraft are being shot down by U.S. F-16s to 
     ensure that the no-fly zone policy is being met. It doesn't 
     look like an ending to Provide Promise any time soon. The 
     totals in sorties and flying hours keep mounting.
       There are no regrets, like Ash said, keeping the mission in 
     perspective: They are saving lives at 10,000 feet high.

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