The cockpit of the
HC/MC-130J is
generally a two-
person operation,
with advanced
avionics and
head-up display.
Jamie HunterLOSSES
Throughout more than 50 years of
service, one HC-130H, three HC-130Ps
and a single MC-130P were written
o in crashes. Additionally, a pair of
HC-130Ps was written o in a Viet
Cong mortar and rocket attack on Tuy
Hoa Air Base, Republic of Vietnam that
occurred on July 29, 1968.operated by the active component of
ACC were retired when serial numbers
64-14852 and 65-0986 departed Moody
AFB, Georgia, on September 15, 2015.
The Combat Kings, which had been
assigned to the 71st RQS, were transferred
to AFRC’s 920th Rescue Wing at Patrick
AFB, Florida. The 71st retired the USAF’s
oldest HC-130P on March 3, 2015, when
serial 62-1863 departed Moody AFB, for
Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, where it
was placed in storage with the 309th
Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration
Group (AMARG).
Combat King operations came to a close
at Kirtland, Ohio, on October 4, 2016 when
the last HC-130N (69-5830) was own
to Patrick to also join the 920th Rescue
Wing. The Patrick unit was assembling the
most useful airframes as it became the
nal operator of the HC-130N. The last
of four examples from the Alaska ANG’s
211th RQS departed Joint Base Elmendorf-
Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on
January 17, 2017, also bound for Patrick.
The rst HC-130J for the California ANG
arrived at Mo ett on June 7, 2018. The unit
had started retiring its MC-130Ps in March
2016 and the nal example departed
on November 27, 2018. Serial 66-0212
— which participated in the attempted
rescue of American prisoners of war from
the Son Tay Prison Camp near Hanoi,
North Vietnam — was the rst production
HC-130P delivered to the air force.The future
The legacy special missions Hercules
have supported operations back to
Vietnam, as well as ‘Desert Storm’ and
all major operations since. Currently, 21
MC-130Ps, six HC-130Ns and 17 HC-130Ps
are stored at AMARG and the active
Combat King eet includes just four
HC-130Ns with the 39th RQS at Patrick.
Phase-out of the HC-130P was completed
on February 8, 2019, when serial 66-0222,
which was assigned to the New York
ANG’s 106th Rescue Wing/102nd RQS,
made its nal ight at Westhampton
Beach, New York. The wing welcomed the
rst of four new HC-130Js on March 20,
2019, at Gabreski Airport.
Retirement of the HC-130N will
come in 2021. The 920th Rescue Wing
is scheduled to receive the rst of six
HC-130Js in the third quarter of Fiscal
Year 2020. Until then, Combat Kings
will continue to be tasked with aerial
refueling and deploying pararescuemen
— PJs — at ranges that exceed that of
the HH-60G helicopter and as airborne
mission command (AMC) platforms in
no-to-low threat environments.http://www.combataircraft.net // August 2019 77
68-77 MC-130 C.indd 77 20/06/2019 22:39