Photo By Scott Sturkol | A KC-135R Stratotanker from the 157th Air Refueling Wing of the New Hampshire Air...... read more read more
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SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. – Master Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol, an Air Force public affairs superintendent and journalist with Headquarters Air Mobility Command here, was one of 14 crew members who flew on a mission that was the Air Force’s first direct delivery airlift mission through the Arctic Circle from the United States to Afghanistan.
The flight, which took place June 5 to 6, was aboard a C-5M Super Galaxy from Dover Air Force Base, Del., to Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan. The flight was the first time a U.S. Air Force plane flew this northern route from the U.S., over Canada and into the Arctic Circle, then back down through Russian and Kazakhstan airspace to Afghanistan.
U.S. Transportation Command and Air Mobility Command officials at Scott AFB, Ill., said the mission was a “proof of concept” flight that will help establish future sustainment operations in Afghanistan. AMC's 618th Tanker Airlift Control Center planners at Scott AFB tasked and built the mission plans for the effort. It is part of TACC's continuing effort to support and control airlift and air refueling missions around the globe.
To make the entire 15-plus hour flight to Afghanistan, the C-5M was refueled by a KC-135R Stratotanker from the New Hampshire Air National Guard's 157th Air Refueling Wing and Pease Air National Guard Base. The refueling took place over Northern Canada. The C-5M flew with the call sign “Reach 220.”
Sturkol said being the only Air Force journalist, working as both a writer and photographer, to cover the mission was a career highlight.
“This, by far is one thing that will stand out in my Air Force career,” said Sturkol, whose hometown is Wakefield, Mich. “After more than 19 years of covering Air Force news by writing stories, taking photographs and documenting history, it was nice to be a part of something historic. In my line of work, participating in a combat airlift mission like this is like winning the Super Bowl.”
Sturkol, a two-time Air Force award winner in news photography and deployed journalism in 2005 and 2008 and the Air Mobility Command Print Journalist of the Year for 2007, 2008 and 2009, was selected to cover the mission by the AMC Director of Public Affairs.
According to his official Air Force job description for an Air Force journalist, Sturkol was doing exactly what he was trained to do during the Arctic mission. The job description for a public affairs craftsman shows a airmen like Sturkol are required to “plan, organize, coordinate and conduct internal, community relations and media relations communications activities for the Air Force.”
Public affairs airmen like Sturkol also engage in print and broadcast journalism to include writing, editing and publishing base newspapers, periodicals, guides, pamphlets, fact sheets and radio and television scripts. They prepare and release news for internal and civilian media, arrange and conduct tours and conduct community relations activities.
Sturkol, a 19-year Air Force veteran, is trained to prepare, edit and distribute public affairs program material, the job description states. He can determine the best medium and message content to reach target audiences and he “designs coordinated multimedia programs on topics of timely concern to management.” He also advises commanders at all levels and their staffs on the internal, media relations and community relations implications of plans, policies and programs and applies communication theory and techniques to public affairs activities for more effective resource use.
“Our biggest job is going out there and telling the Air Force story,” Sturkol said. “In the Air Force, we have airmen all over the globe on the front lines of our war effort making a difference. Going out on this Arctic mission was another opportunity for me to tell the American people about the brave and talented people we have serving in their Air Force.”
As for the Arctic mission, AMC officials said the historic flight was made possible by close diplomatic cooperation and culminates months of operational planning. It further illustrates the military's commitment to finding innovative new ways to operate with increasingly constrained resources. USTRANSCOM planners said the flight is just the beginning of understanding new ways to strengthen the northern corridor for direct delivery missions to the deployed theater of operations.
| Date Taken: | 06.06.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 07.12.2011 16:28 |
| Story ID: | 73605 |
| Location: | SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, ILLINOIS, US |
| Web Views: | 510 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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