Combat aircraft

In general, the

majority of

our mission taskings

come from TACC — it

plans, schedules and

directs a fleet of more

than 1,300 mobility

aircraft in support of

operations around

the world.

Col Jimmy Canlas

HISTORIC

WING

Reflecting on the 437th Airlift Wing’s

history, Col Canlas says, ‘When I think

back to the earliest days of WW2 and

the 437th Troop Carrier Group, I am

in awe just thinking of what they

accomplished with the technology

available at that time. Whether you flew

a C-47 over Normandy or were selected

to pilot one of the gliders behind

enemy lines, both were daunting tasks.’

In June 1993, the 437th AW was chosen

to receive the first C-17s in the US Air

Force inventory and it recently marked

the accumulation of three million flying

hours for its C-17 fleet.

Below: That’s a

lot of C-17 tails

— Charleston

is home to a

mind-blowing 48

Globemaster IIIs.

exploit the entire envelope of what the

platform can offer, we can augment

the crew to consist of three pilots and

two loadmasters. The increased crew

members permit us to operate up

to 24 hours.

‘The turn-around time for an aircrew

depends on current tasking load and

manning availability. The absolute

minimum turnaround time is 12 hours

for aircrew members. Assuming a

standard mission last about eight to 10

days, a crew member can expect about

two weeks in between missions.

‘Generally, pilots and loadmasters in

the same squadron are chosen based

on availability, crew qualification

and experience. In that sense, we

fly together as a squadron. Certain

scenarios [deployed, airdrop and so

‘Daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and

annual flying schedules are published

so that all organizations can strategically

plan for their resources. There are a

series of standing meetings between

various organizations that take place

during each work week to address

and remedy any acute scheduling

conflicts or mission requirement

changes that may arise. During the daily

flying schedule execution, flightline

production personnel are empowered

to make additions, substitutions and/or

cancellations to meet requirements.’

Globemaster gurus

‘The minimum aircrew is two pilots

and one loadmaster, and this allows

us to execute the C-17’s full range of

capability,’ said Canlas. ‘However, to fully

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