Photo By Staff Sgt. Juan Delgado | Boeing civilians and airmen assigned to Joint Base Lewis-McChord and soldiers assigned...... read more read more
LOGAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Soldiers assigned to the 7th Engineer Battalion from Fort Drum, N.Y., assisted Boeing and the Air Force with the movement of a damaged airlifter, April 16, at Forward Operating Base Shank, Afghanistan. The movement of the airlifter involved many different organizations working together to collectively reach one goal. The project to recover the plane took several steps that involved engineers, logicians and civilians from Boeing.
On Jan. 23, 2012, a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III airlifter overshot the runway and the ensuing crash damaged the front landing gear and the underbelly of the airlifter. The C-17 came to rest beyond the runway on the other side of a wadi. The final crash site put the C-17 in a position where the Air Force and Boeing had to make an important decision. They had to decide if the $218 million airlifter was going to be salvaged for parts or recovered and repaired. The latter decision would save the Air Force a considerable amount of money.
“When we came to conclusion that we had to move this airplane, I approached the U.S Army Engineers for assistance, due to their knowledge and resources,” said U.S Air Force Master Sgt. Roy Osman, the aircraft maintenance supervisor with the 446th Air Wing from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.
Osman’s first meeting was with U.S. Army Master Sgt. Samuel Ford, the senior maintenance non-commissioned officer with the 661st Engineer Company, 7th Eng. Bn. Ford eventually partnered Osman with U.S Army Sgt. 1st Class Pierre Dye, the 7th Engineer Battalion’s engineer project manager from Lancaster, S.C. Osman and Dye came together and drew up the initial plan.
Once the initial plan was complete, three soldiers from the 661st Eng. Company, Illinois National Guard, were first to put the plan into action by clearing, grubbing, and leveling the initial crash site.
“The initial work was a little problematic due to the snow on the ground and lack of soil available to level the ground, but after six days my team of Spc. Daniel Baker [from Metropolis, Ill.] and Spc. Jordan Hale [from Pinckneyville, Ill.] were able to get the ground ready to move the airplane 180 degrees toward the runway,” said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Brandon Mitchell from Pinckneyville, Ill., a heavy equipment operator with the 661st Engineer Company.
A recovery team from Boeing was doing everything possible to get the C-17 ready for the move while the earthwork was underway.
“We cleaned out the front of the plane where a platform was made in order to be able to place the airplane on a 916 flatbed [tractor trailer],” said Michael Biggs, Manager Recovery and Modification Services, Boeing, from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.
The moment of truth occurred March 9 when it was time to move the C-17 from its original place. “We used this date as a benchmark to see whether the airplane was going to be able to handle the stress of a move, since this was the third time we had to recover an airplane of this size, but never in a situation like this,” said Scott Henning, the senior engineer for Boeing, from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.
A few lessons were learned during the five hour move that helped with planning the next step. “Due to the fact that one of the landing gears was not fully operational, I offered the lead civilian engineer a suggestion. If we anchor one side of the airframes landing gear and pivot the steer by pulling on the opposite side landing gear with a separate recovery vehicle, it would allow the plane to make the necessary short radius turn,” said Pfc. Jeffrey Browning, Forward Support Company, 7th Engineer Battalion from Spring City, Tenn. It proved to be a successful strategy that was later implemented.
“My initial thought was the complexity of the move: using general engineering and maintenance equipment to move an aircraft of that size within the Engineer Battalion would require the right soldiers with a good working knowledge of the equipment,” said Dye.
“We selected Sgt. Andrew King [from Ashville, Ohio], Spc. Kenneth Holley [from Newark, N.Y.], Sgt. Christopher Welch [from Elkridge, Md.] and Pfc. Jeffrey Browning to be the drivers for the HEMMIT wreckers due to their technical knowledge and prior recovery experience,” said Capt. Michael Carroll, the FSC commander from Reed City, Mich.
Once the airplane was turned around facing the runway the team planned the next step. “Since the airplane was located on the other side of a wadi, a bridge had to be created in order to get the plane back on the runway. The problem was that it required a significant amount of earthwork due to the size and potential flooding issues an earth bridge could create,” said Sgt. 1st Class Steven Maki, the operations NCO and senior horizontal construction engineer with the 7th Engineer Battalion from Kenmare, N.D.
In order to identify the right amount of construction materials, the wadi and surrounding area needed to be surveyed. “I brought two of my engineering assistants from off site to gather topographical information that was necessary for the design. Two areas needed to be surveyed, the north end of the runway where the plane was going to cross the wadi and the south end where the runway and taxi way meet,” said U.S Air Force Maj. Mel Ibarreta, the 777th Expeditionary Prime BEEF Squadron officer in charge, from Fremont, Calif. “Tech. Sgt. Ursula Rothweiler [from Tall Timbers, Md.] and Senior Airmen Matthew Ogden [from Smyrna, Tenn.] were the right airmen for this project, their contributions were essential in creating a plan that could be successfully executed.”
While conducting the survey, a hydrologist was brought in to assess the area and what types of materials were needed to be used to prevent flooding. “The survey data was analyzed and we came up with a plan that would allow the earth bridge to be built and also allow the proper drainage,” said Dye. “We had our operators set a base foundation of larger rock then we placed geotextile over it which would prevent the soil placed from eroding,” said Maki.
“While we awaited the rock delivery, we worked on the south end taxi-way since it needed to be expanded and a culvert needed to be extended due to the size and the radius turn the plane required,” said U.S Army Sgt. Dennis Stout from Marshall Ill., the senior equipment operator and NCOIC with the 661st Eng. Company. “The job required additional help, so the Air Force was able to provide three additional operators to allow a timely completion of the project,” said U.S Army Spc. Richard O’Hearn, an equipment operator with the 661st Eng. Company.
Once the south taxi-way was complete the main effort shifted to the bridge over the wadi. “With the additional help from the Air Force we were able to multi-task many of the different pieces of equipment at the same time,” said Stout. “Master Sgt. Ford was taking care of the equipment behind the scenes and as a piece of equipment would need service, he would ensure that the maintenance soldiers back in the bays provided that service support, so the equipment stayed fully mission capable.”
Once the earth bridge was formed over the wadi, AM-2 matting was placed over it to provide addition support for the airplane weight as it crossed the bridge. “Soldiers, airmen and civilians who work throughout FOB Shank came together to ensure that the AM-2 matting was positioned in the right place,” said Dye.
“During the construction process of both the south taxi-way and wadi, the 2-82 Aviation Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division, provided us with support by scheduling flights in and out of FOB Shank, around our work schedule. Without that the project would have taken longer” said Dye. “The project would also not been completed without the support of the FOB Shank fire department who provided us with the water necessary to compact and complete the project.”
The day before the plane was scheduled to move, a rehearsal was conducted where all the key personnel came together. “We wanted to make sure that everyone involved in the movement of the plane knew their roles, we also wanted the sun and all the elements to be as close as possible for the move scheduled the next day,” said Henning.
At 0635 hours April 16, the airlifter made its initial move. After about six feet into the move, the plane shifted and a concern was noticed among the leadership. After re-tightening the straps and chains, the team attempted a second movement. This time the plane did not stop and continued to roll over the man made bridge and onto the runway. Once on the runway, the plane continued to move until it was stopped to readjust the straps and chains before the next turn onto the taxi-way.
“Everyone was excited to see the plan come to completion, where the plane was in its resting place, which took a little under an hour,” said Maki. “We planned the move to last at least four hours, but with the new tires placed on the aircraft and all the hard work by the operators, the move was a bigger success than planned,” said Dye.
As the C-17 came to rest at its temporary repair location, one can see the excitement in all the personnel involved in this historical move. “It was a very good learning experience to do something to help our sister branch in recovering a piece of equipment so valuable. The mission allowed outside elements to see the knowledge base, skill set and professionalism of the soldiers in the unit, and the pride they take in their work,” said Dye. “This was a project that each person hopefully will look at and say they were a part of a team that helped move a C-17.”
| Date Taken: | 04.16.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 05.10.2012 10:59 |
| Story ID: | 88228 |
| Location: | AF |
| Hometown: | FORT DRUM, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 347 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, 7th Engineer Battalion assists Boeing and Air Force move a damaged C-17 in Afghanistan, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
