News Releases

By Captain Nicole Meszaros, 8 Wing Public Affairs Officer

Deep in the southern provinces of Afghanistan - Helmand, Zabul, Oruzgan and Kandahar - approximately 10,000 Afghan and Coalition forces are pursuing enemy forces as part of Operation Mountain Thrust and 8 Wing Trenton aircrews are providing vital support to this mission.

Operation Mountain Thrust serves to prevent insurgents from disrupting the establishment of a secure environment that fosters peaceful development and civilian police efforts, which will lead to a rebuilt Afghanistan.

To sustain this operation, the Afghan and Coalition combat forces must have supplies delivered directly into their various theatres. Consequently, tactical air transport crews from 8 Wing/CFB Trenton are currently engaged in aerial combat re-supply drops using the CC-130 Hercules aircraft to directly support those troops engaged in the operation.

The last time Canada's Air Force technically engaged in combat re-supply operations was during the Korean War (1950-1953). However, Lieutenant-Colonel (LCol) Dave Cochrane, Commanding Officer of 426 Transport Training Squadron, was engaged in humanitarian airdrop operations in 1991 in Northern Iraq and again in 1993 in Somalia.

"Airdropping humanitarian supplies to the Kurdish people after the Iraq War and to the Somalis during the famine was a highlight of my career," said LCol Cochrane. "It was professionally satisfying to be able to use the skills honed over my career as an air navigator in an environment where we, the Canadian Forces, could help people in need."

While humanitarian airdrops and combat re-supply drops differ dramatically in principle, what the tactical air transport crews do in either type of operation is virtually the same operationally. The delivery method of supplies employed by LCol Cochrane and the crews during the 90s is similar in nature to the delivery method employed by the 8 Wing/CFB Trenton crews presently flying in Afghanistan and is known as the Container Delivery System (CDS).

The CDS is an effective delivery method to ensure supplies get to required locations with accuracy. The semi-rigid collapsible containers can be filled with anything from water, food, blankets and tents to ammunition, shovels and more. Sixteen such containers can fit inside a Hercules aircraft for aerial delivery, with each container weighing up to 2,200 pounds.

Containers of supplies are airdropped out of the back end of the Hercules. Essentially, after comprehensive checks are completed by the crew, the pilots fly the aircraft at a constant altitude with a nose-high pitch and use the forces of gravity to extract the load out of the aircraft.

"It requires the focus and concentration of the entire crew to complete these missions safely and effectively," said LCol Cochrane. "Once airborne--after four to five hours of mission planning--the aspect of teamwork becomes apparent as the pilots, navigator, flight engineer and loadmaster all concentrate on the objective and all communications pertain to the task at hand."

The containers depart the aircraft and parachutes deploy automatically via a static line, thus ensuring that the integrity of the containers is maintained.

The Basic Tactical Air Transport (BTAT) Course offered at 426 (T) Squadron is the venue that prepares the CF's Air Mobility Force personnel for aerial deliveries. Upon successful completion of this demanding course, aircrews are ready to engage in operations such as that of Mountain Thrust.

"During the BTAT course, the crews are trained in tactics and prepped so they can perform safely and proficiently in a theatre of operations with the highly capable Hercules," said LCol Cochrane. "During the course, the importance of teamwork and cohesion is stressed to the students."

There is no scheduled end date for Operation Mountain Thrust. The Coalition forces will continue operations well into the summer and until the objectives are met.