Travis C-17 crews awarded Distinguished Flying Cross

Two Travis AFB crews, operating a pair of C-17s into Kabul during Operation Allies Refuge were awarded the DFC today. Several of those were awarded the "C" device for exceptionally meritorious service or achievement under combat conditions. The first crew was part of RCH651. They flew into Kabul on August 22, 2021 to evacuate refugees to Qatar. The crew landed under increased threat of suicide bombing. The crew searched every evacuee before getting them to their seats. In addition, they treated a passenger that suddenly fell seriously ill, and deescalated a security situation. The aircraft landed with 450 people on board.

The second crew was flying MOOSE98. On August 26th, 2021, they landed in Kabul after a suicide bombing near the airport. They were the first aircraft with a critical care air transport team on board. They were the first CCAT team on site, and immediately went into caring for wounded. In addition to taking on stretchers with critical patients on them, they treated walking wounded that kept arriving to the aircraft. The result was the largest aeromedical evacuation in Kabul Coalition Hospital history. All of their patients arrived at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany alive.

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --
U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Corey Martin, 18th Air Force commander, recognized mobility Airmen for their actions during Operation Allies Refuge with the Distinguished Flying Cross at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., Dec. 9, 2022.

A total of 27 Airmen from two Travis-led missions received the award for their acts of heroism and extraordinary achievements while participating in aerial flight. Three of these decorated Airmen were not in attendance.

“The world witnessed history during that airlift, borne on the shoulders of mobility heroes,” said Gen. Mike Minihan, Air Mobility Command commander. “This recognition is long overdue for what our heroes did during those historic 17 days.”

www.travis.af.mil...

Thats a great story. Is the C17 still considered unique because of its load capacity and being 'fly by wire', as well as having reverse?

a reply to: didntasktobeborned

as well as having reverse?

You're thinking C130 maybe?

C17s are pretty awesome though, with their (relative) STOL capabilities. I get to watch them doing touch and goes at MCBH from my deck quite often.

c17 mid air reverse

a reply to: didntasktobeborned

Im familiar with this ones capabilities, just didn't know if they were still considered top of the food chain. The OP seems to be current with the aircraft intel.

The C130 can sort of move backwards on the ground but its not actual reverse.

The loadmasters for the C17 on these missions discussed in the OP must have been at pucker factor 1000..they move the floor beams via computer to adjust for shifting weight..its nuts

a reply to: Phage

a reply to: didntasktobeborned

I was a loadmaster for DC3s, DC6s, and an Orion (just air cargo) for a while. At OGG. Not under fire but it could be stressful. Once another guy figured weight and balance wrong and set the plane on its tailstand. Luckily there was a tailstand and luckily there was no takeoff attempt.

I never did that and I never got a medal.

a reply to: Zaphod58

That's just silly.
Impressive, but silly.

a reply to: didntasktobeborned

That's a tactical descent.

The C-17 kind of falls in the middle of the airlift fleet. The C-5 doesn't have the numbers to do large movements at once, and is maintenance intensive, and the C-130 is the workhorse of the fleet. The latest NDAA requires 271 C-130s to be maintained. There were 279 C-17s built, one was lost practicing for an airshow a few years back. They're used for most long range airlift missions, and anywhere from 10-15 can be seen airborne at any given time.

a reply to: Phage

It's more an airshow stunt, but they have it in their pocket on the remote chance that they need it at some austere field.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Can they maneuver at all? Like a three point turn or something?

a reply to: Phage

Mostly it's backing up past the turn, and then making the turn going forward. They can in theory turn, but they have to have a really good loadmaster that they really trust to do it.

a reply to: Zaphod58

"Works on paper?"

It would be a scary thing to do under pressure but as the topic makes clear, amazing things can be done under dire circumstances. It has been demonstrated that it can backup and thank you for that.

a reply to: Phage

The maximum passenger count for a C-17 is 102 with centerline seats, 138 on seat pallets, and 336 if they're sitting on the floor in a humanitarian evacuation. The previous record was 670 out of Tacloban in the Philippines in 2013. One of the flights out of Kabul landed with 823 on board. A lot can be done when the need is there.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Apart from souls on board, how does it relate to MTOW? I imagine people are not the most dense cargo.

a reply to: Phage

They took off at minimum fuel, and met a tanker almost immediately after getting some altitude. Maximum payload is about 171,000 pounds. Using 200 pounds per person as average weight, 823 people comes in around 165,000 pounds. Add in crew, and they’re getting right up against max payload. Use 250 pounds, and they’re well above max payload.

a reply to: Zaphod58

200 lbs average might be pushing it. For the US, maybe. Afghanistan, probly not. And, there were quite a few kids involved, weren't there?

Understand, I'm not trying to minimize the accomplishment. The photos of the cabin speak for themselves.

a reply to: Phage

Yeah, it is, but the loadmaster uses a generic formula that gives a certain weight for adults to get a rough estimate on weight.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Bottom line: it worked.

The maximum passenger count for a C-17 is 102 with centerline seats, 138 on seat pallets, and 336 if they're sitting on the floor in a humanitarian evacuation. The previous record was 670 out of Tacloban in the Philippines in 2013. One of the flights out of Kabul landed with 823 on board. A lot can be done when the need is there.

a reply to: Zaphod58


SSSH - you are giving airlines food for thought on how to cram more people into the plane ..............

a reply to: firerescue

It’s not like you’re going to survive the crash anyway.