Acknowledgements: The author wishes to thank
Col Anthony Machabee, Lt Col Todd Hudson, Lt Col
David Chauvin, Lt Col Ricardo Bravo, Maj Joseph
Jaquish, Maj David McNally, 1st Lt Eric Sperry
and the crews of ‘Roller’ flight for their support
of this feature.operating as a pair, head to a drop zone
7,000ft above sea level as part of a ‘hi-lo-hi’
mission template. ‘Firstly they have to plan
their escape route out of what is a very big
canyon,’ Bravo outlines. ‘They then have to
work backwards, starting with their ingress
from 11,000ft. It’s a slow penetration to the
air-drop, then a high-altitude escape up to
about 12,000ft. They fly that profile twice,
and we find that the CRM aspects improve
and things run much more efficiently on
the second run.’
The final mission lasts for over three
hours and is a capstone event. The visiting
crews fly low-level routes in canyons,
climb-outs over terrain, and a short-notice
on-call air-drop co-ordinated with Marine
Corps joint terminal attack controllers
(JTACs). It culminates at the Sweetwater
landing zone, a 3,500ft dirt strip at 6,800ft
above mean sea level.
‘After the crews complete day three at
Sweetwater, I think any C-130 crew would
be ready to fly any place in the world,’
comments Bravo. ‘Sweetwater is just as
challenging as anything we’ve seen in
South-west Asia and Africa.’
There is also an advanced night
mountain flying course. This too works out
as three flights that involve flying in the
high desert valleys, tactical approaches
and air-drops, all on night vision
goggles (NVGs).Corporate knowledge
With more than half of the ‘High Rollers’
crews being AMATS graduates, a great
deal of corporate knowledge can be
imparted to their peers. 1st Lt Eric Sperry is
one of the more junior pilots at the 192nd
AS, but is already an AMATS graduate. ‘The
main things you learn as a student are
performance and energy management.
For the most part, C-130 units are located
close to sea level in areas of temperate
climate, in relatively flat areas. So, on a
day-to-day basis, aircraft performance may
just be an afterthought. [A] location such
as Reno, where temperatures can vary
from one extreme to the other, combinedwith the high elevation and mountainous
terrain, [is] perfect [...] for crews to train in
and mirror some of the most challenging
environments to fly in the world.’
The AMATS course exposes C-130
crews to a host of potential hazards. In
a reduced-power scenario the boxed
canyons are a real threat, and poor route
study can lead crews into a wrong turn
or significant disorientation, giving
significant safety concerns.
‘The course definitely reinforces our
trust in ‘the numbers’ — the engineered
and charted performance data for the
airplane,’ explains Sperry. ‘In fact, one of
the academic sessions revolves solely
around planning your own mission
with your own calculations, then going
out the next day and actually flying it
as precisely as possible to demonstrate
proof of concept. As a guy that flies on a
regular basis at the unit where the course
is offered, it provided me the opportunity
to learn even more about mountain flying
and sharpen my skills, in an area that I am
familiar with. With that being said, I can’t
imagine how valuable a resource this
course can be to other units who don’t
ever get to see this type of flying until they
are in a deployed environment.’
Even the smallest details such as proper
throttle grip are taught by the ‘High
Rollers’, right through to accurate airspeed
control and the effects of unpredictable
winds in the high mountain passes. A lot
of knowledge is imparted for such a short
course, and the crews that attend can
head back to their units to spread that vital
learning. The combination of experience,
pro-active professionalism and geographic
location places the ‘High Rollers’ among
the ANG’s most important and influential
C-130 operators.http://www.combataircraft.net // March 2018 57
AMATS MISSIONS AT A GLANCE
Flight 1:
Two 40-minute low level blocks through the Sierra Nevada and Great Basin to the Big-horn
DZ for a heavy equipment (HE) and high-velocity container delivery system (HVCDS) air-drop.
Thirty-minute low-level through the high desert mountains to Amedee Auxiliary Air Field for
multiple tactical approaches.
Flight 2:
Two 30-minute ‘hi-lo-hi’ profiles, dropping at 8,300ft and climbing out to 12,000ft for terrain,
followed by assault landings at a local airfield.
Flight 3:
Sixty-minute low-level with air-drops at 6,800ft MSL and 8,200ft MSL DZs with box canyons
topping out at 11,000ft MSL, followed by dirt assault landings at Sweetwater LZ.52-57 AMATS C.indd 57 19/01/2018 15:56