Air Force drops people, simulated supplies at Fort Riley

FORT RILEY, Kan. -- On March 22 Fort Riley added a capability to the post's list of training opportunities, when four members of the 19th Aerospace Medicine Squadron High Altitude Airdrop Mission Support Center from Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, jumped from a high altitude to land near the Timber Creek Drop Zone.

The day concluded with five C-130 Hercules aircraft, three from Little Rock Air Force Base, and two from St. Joseph, Missouri, landing on a 4,100-foot dirt strip located next to the highway as they conducted a combat offload.

"There are only about 13 of these airstrips that are C-17 (Globemaster) capable in the United States," said Capt. Matt Zahler, Air Mobility Liaison Officer of the 1st Inf. Div.

"(Fort Riley has) one of those 13 . . . This one here is made specifically for the C-17. A lot of C-17 crews now are wanting to come out and do dirt strips."

Gary Smith, Douthit Gunnery Complex range operations specialist, said this is not the first time the air strip was used for airdrop training.

"Through the success of the past few years of this runway, we have become quite known in the military, both the Air Force and Army side," he said. "There are only a few places in the military inventory that can have a 4,100 foot stretch of a dirt runway. It's starting to pick up, as it's becoming known."

Before the C-130s landed for the combat offload, four members of HAAMSOC jumped and landed under fully deployed, rectangular Military Silhouette-360 parachutes. Physiological technicians are also onboard the aircraft monitoring the flight crew and parachutists while they are above 20,000 feet in an unpressurized aircraft said Tech. Sgt. Josh Silva, HAAMSOC.

"For our primary duty, no we don't jump," he said. "We are there primarily as the medical experts inflight. If something were to happen to an individual, we could fix the issue and then keep the person alive by just giving them oxygen equipment."

While the four who did jump are qualified and do so regularly. Silva said it was nice to get an opportunity to jump into unfamiliar territory.

"Being able to come to an alternate DZ, compared to the normal DZ's we operate out of Little Rock, it's a nice way to challenge the experience we have and build experience for our guys," he said. "To be able to exit and land on an alternate drop-zone compared to one that we've landed on many times and surveyed."

The jump also provided a readiness component, as the jumpers were forced to locate their landing spot while free falling.

"Luckily there was a landing strip close by that we could identify from the aircraft," Silva said. "It was nice to be able to exit the aircraft and pick out those features. We took our top four experienced jumpers from Little Rock to come out here and be a part of this exercise."

After the C-130 dropped the four jumpers, the plane left the area to regroup with the other aircraft near Salina.

Zahler said this training could lead to loftier goals such as training for when an aircraft flies in equipment to the dirt strip and rolls off into a "fight" on the range complex.

"That's one of the end goals to have those C-17s come in here," Zahler said. "What we would do is have our primary aerial point of demarcation is Salina. We've actually done this with an M-88 (tracked tow truck), where we had a C-17, pick them up like they were deploying and fly them into this dirt strip where they could go right into the fight. It's perfect because they can go right over and start shooting, that's the whole purpose."

Zahler said the landing strip provides commanders with a rare opportunity to set up a forward operating base that will allow the initial drop of Soldiers and equipment, and for resupply missions.

"With the upcoming exercise, we could set this up as a hub, just like you would in the desert," he said. "Set up a FOB with a dirt strip, that now becomes a supply hub for you. You could fly a C-130 into Marshal (Army Airfield), load it up with supplies (and) fly it out here to the guys who are fighting the fight just like you would in the real world."

The 139th Airlift Wing out of St. Joseph, Missouri, has also offered to assist commanders in the field with their training.

"We've had St. Joseph volunteer their own aircraft, parachutes and riggers to air drop supplies during any of the exercises over here (Douthit Range Complex)," he said. "So you could have a live-fire exercise going on over here, go check fire, drop them ammunition, go pick up the ammunition and continue firing."

The exercise completed with the loading of simulated gear onto the final aircraft which took off and departed for home base.

According to Smith, exercises like this continue to build readiness, not only for Army Soldiers but for Air Force pilots and other units that use the range complex.

"That's what we strive for, to excel and build every operation that we have," Smith said.