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RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany — As the C-130E Hercules slowly rolled down the taxiway, fire trucks on both sides gave the big, gray aircraft a shower and dozens of airmen lining its path quickly saluted. It was a final farewell for an old plane with more than 44 years of service and a heroic legacy. The 86th Airlift Wing said goodbye to the plane, which earned an honorary Purple Heart during the Vietnam War. The aircraft, known only by its 63-7865 tail number, left Ramstein on Wednesday for its final resting place at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. Staff Sgt....

2/11/2008 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- Coalition airpower integrated with coalition ground forces in Iraq and International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan during operations Feb. 10, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here. In Afghanistan, Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt IIs conducted shows of force over an enemy compound near Sangin and over a coalition-forces convoy in the vicinity of Tarin Kowt. The shows of force were conducted in order to deter enemy activities in the areas. The missions were declared successful by the on-scene joint terminal attack controller. In Bari Kowt, Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles conducted...

KABUL, Afghanistan - Maj. Paul Anderson has probably seen more of Afghanistan than most people in the country, although he usually sees it from 6,400 metres above the ground. "That is the main and only highway between Kandahar and Kabul," he says, pointing at the tiny line of cars and trucks barely visible from the cockpit of his Hercules C-130 transport plane. The view out the window closely resembles a giant, coloured three-dimensional map. There is little to break up the monotony of sand and mountains except patches of green in some of the deeper valleys, the occasional silver thread...

Taliban militants have used a heat-seeking surface-to-air missile to attack a Western aircraft over Afghanistan for the first time. Click to enlarge Click to enlarge: how the attack was launched The attack with a weapon believed to have been smuggled across the border with Iran represents a worrying increase in the capability of the militants which Western commanders had long feared. The Daily Telegraph has learnt that the Taliban attempted to bring down an American C-130 Hercules aircraft flying over the south-western province of Nimroz on July 22. The crew reported that a missile system locked on to their aircraft...

<p>A military plane may have crashed Tuesday afternoon in southeast Kentucky, though there are conflicting reports about where or if the plane went down.</p> <p>Initial reports said that a C-130 Hercules had crashed in Knox County near Granny Rose Hollow at Highway 459 near the Whitley County line. Several reports were called in to police just after 4 p.m. that a large plane had been flying low in the area trailing smoke, clipped some trees, then went down.</p>

An RAF Hercules transport plane has been destroyed in southern Iraq after it was damaged in an "incident" on landing, the Ministry of Defence said. Two people suffered minor injuries in Monday's incident, after which the C130 plane was destroyed because of the potential risk involved in recovery. A military spokesman in Basra said there was no evidence of hostile action during the landing in Maysan province. The plane, based at RAF Lyneham, had been on a routine re-supply journey. It landed 20km north of Al-Amarah at about 2010 local time (1710GMT). The two people injured were taken to hospital,...

Fervent hopes and a brief break in the weather brought no satisfaction to relatives and friends of three climbers missing on the dangerous north side of Mount Hood. The clear, cold morning turned foul by midday Saturday, before searchers on two sides of the mountain and helicopter crews retired for the night because of weather and darkness, finding no trace of the three men. The Hood River County sheriff's office, a lead agency in the search, said efforts would continue Sunday. On Saturday, a C-130 with infrared heat-seeking capability from the Nevada Air National Guard took to the skies over...

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 13, 2006 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] has begun flight testing for the Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) program and has generated "first light" of ATL's high-energy chemical laser in ground tests, achieving two key milestones in the laser gunship development effort. During the "low-power" flight tests, which began Oct. 10 and conclude this fall, the ATL ACTD system will find and track ground targets at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. A low-power, solid-state laser will serve as a surrogate for ATL's high-power chemical laser. To prepare for the tests, the ATL...

Thick as thieves Wilson John Clandestine dealings between Pakistan and North Korea leave no room for doubt that their nuclear weapons programmes are closely entwined On June 7, 1998, a gun shot shattered the tranquillity of Islamabad's posh colony, referred to as E-7, which houses, among other notables, AQ Khan, known, rightly or wrongly, as the father of the Pakistani nuclear bomb. The firing took place a few metres from away AQ Khan's residence. The dead woman was later identified as Kim Sa-nae, a member of the 20-strong North Korean nuclear scientists delegation living, as Pakistan media reports said, in...

Secret RAF sorties keep Iraq border troops on go By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent (Filed: 09/10/2006) RAF Hercules transport aircraft are flying secret missions into the heart of insurgent territory in Iraq to re-supply long range desert patrols. Up to three sorties a week are being flown into Maysan province. The large but agile aeroplanes land on hastily constructed airstrips to deliver food, fuel and ammunition to cavalry soldiers operating far from friendly bases. The missions have enabled troops from the Queen's Royal Hussars battlegroup to double the time spent watching the porous border with Iran for smugglers carrying bombs,...

by Staff Sgt. Ryan Hansen 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs 8/15/2006 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- It may be surprising to hear that the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing has a Vietnam era Purple Heart recipient working at the wing. It is even more surprising to hear that the combat veteran is actually a C-130 Hercules deployed from Ramstein Air Base, Germany. On the flight deck of aircraft 63-7865 is a plaque telling the story of one of the hardest working aircraft in the Air Force inventory. According to the certificate, on June 1, 1972, the aircraft was assigned to the 21st Tactical...

7/13/2006 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- A C-130 Hercules crew assigned to the 738th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron provided critical support to an Army operating location in Afghanistan on July 6 by airdropping essential supplies before a potential enemy attack. Aircraft commander Capt. Travis Sjostedt and his crew just completed their last sortie during their 30-day forward deployment to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. But as the crew was preparing the aircraft to return to its main operating base, leaders at Bagram received a message from the theater's combined air operations center that a forward operating base in Afghanistan was short of...

6/29/2006 - ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AFPN) -- The beginning of an era for Robins Air Force Base and the warfighters of Air Force Special Operations Command was marked June 28 as the first-of-its-kind MC-130W was presented to Lt. Gen. Michael W. Wooley, AFSOC commander, in a ceremony here. "A lot of work went into this aircraft," said Maj. Gen. Michael A. Collings, Warner Robins Air Logistics Center commander. "Sweat, hard work and brains brought about this large initiative in support of the global war on terror. My challenge is that the need for these aircraft is today, and...

6/27/2006 - BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (AFPN) -- The U.S. military has turned to an old workhorse as the delivery method for supplies and humanitarian cargo needed to sustain Operation Enduring Freedom. The C-130 Hercules has been around, in one form or another, since the 1950s. It is the aircraft of choice for inter-theater airlift in Afghanistan, where the U.S. Army is conducting operations from areas located on some of the toughest terrain on the planet. The last time "Herc" crews flew combat airdrops at this level was the Vietnam War. "It's the perfect tool to use in this theater,"...

IAF chief procurement officer: F35 will replace F16 The Israel Air Force plans is to buy over 100 Lockheed Martin F35s, costing at least $5 billion. Amnon Barzilai 21 Jun 06 10:15 The Israel Air Force (IAF) is completing its plan to replace its fleet of combat jets, transport planes, and helicopters, ahead of the IDF headquarters workshop for the formulation of its Keshet five-year plan. In an exclusive interview, IAF chief procurement officer Brig.-Gen. Zeev Snir told “Globes” that the key part of the plan was to procure the next-generation US combat jet, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Snir...

4/14/2006 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- No one wishes for an aircraft to break -- especially flying crew chiefs. But, that’s when the mobile C-130 Hercules maintainers receive the most attention -- when something is wrong with the plane and they are far away from home. “Fortunately, C-130s are extremely reliable,” said Senior Master Sgt. Edward Rife, production supervisor for the 379th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron. “They seldom break to the point where the aircraft can’t return to base. But, if that happens, the flying crew chiefs come to the rescue.” Sergeant Rife said most of the C-130s used in Southwest...

Downtown turns war zone Friday, March 10, 2006 By NADIA MOHANDESSI About 60 Air Force personnel flooded lower Dauphin Street and the surrounding area Thursday night in mock combat battles that looked a little more like a scene from West Side Story than one from downtown Baghdad. With less singing and dancing, of course. The U.S. Air Force Weapons School's 14th Weapons Squadron, based out of Hurlburt Field, Fla., staged simulated combat scenes beginning shortly before 8 p.m. Thursday near Bienville and Cathedral squares to show personnel flying an AC-130 Gunship aircraft what different urban combat scenarios looked like from...

AN AIR BASE IN IRAQ - The U.S. Air Force has begun moving heavily armed AC-130 airplanes — the lethal "flying gunships" of the Vietnam War — to a base in Iraq as commanders search for new tools to counter the Iraqi resistance, The Associated Press has learned. An AP reporter saw the first of the turboprop-driven aircraft after it landed at the airfield this week. Four are expected. The Iraq-based special forces command controlling the AC-130s, the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force, said it would have no comment on the deployment. But the plan's general outline was confirmed...

WHAT A PICTURE - AT OVER TWO MILES AWAY!!Here is what  technology can do in a war zone. The pictures were taken from an  AC130 Specter gunship two and a half miles away.The guys in the picture are setting up a roadside bomb and planning to ambush an American convoy which followed a short while after the pictures were taken. They were setting up for the ambush and were pacing off the distance from the bomb to where the convoy was to pass by.Turn your sound up. http://lvlranch.com/images/iraqiinsurgents-takeout.wmv

New weapon could mean the end of collateral damage The U.S. military has been developing a gunship that could literally obliterate enemy ground targets with a laser beam. The military plans to test the Advanced Tactical Laser, a laser weapon mounted on a C-130H air transport that could destroy any weapon system without collateral damage. The laser could have tremendous repercussions on the battlefield, particularly in urban warfare in such countries as Afghanistan and Iraq. "It's the kind of tool that could bring about victory within minutes," an official said. The applications of ATL could change military dynamics on the...

This is remarkable film footage. This is a night vision movie from Iraq, showing live action against Iraqi insurgents. The pictures were taken from an AC-130 Specter gunship two and a half miles from the target. The guys in the picture are setting up a roadside bomb and planning to ambush an American convoy which followed a short while after the pictures were taken. They were setting up the ambush and were pacing off the distance from the bomb to where the convoy was to pass by. Turn your sound up. The level of effort these Specter crews put forth...

1/3/2006 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- People around the globe welcomed 2006 with a variety of New Year’s Eve celebrations. High above Iraq, a Reserve C-130 Hercules aircrew headed for Balad Air Base, celebrated in a different way -- flying another mission in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. With the drone of the aircraft’s four propellers in the background, Senior Master Sgt. Ernie Leyba attached his night vision gear to his flight helmet. It was nearly pitch black on the flight deck, except for the pale green glow of the instrument lights. But it didn’t stop the flight engineer. Since...

AL ASAD, Iraq (Jan. 1, 2006) -- Like a quarterback who leads a team of many different positions, C-130 pilots lead a diverse aircrew, absorbing input and making reasoned decisions. Because of that unique role, the success of Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 252’s mission is dependent on the abilities of its pilots not just to fly the aircraft, but to effectively lead a group of Marines with very different experiences and individual jobs. “Whenever more than one Marine is gathered in a room, one of them is a leader,” said Maj. Glenn Vogel, a native of Virginia Beach, Va.,...

Flights risk shaking fight out of troops John Kerin December 28, 2005 PARATROOPERS who fly to war zones on an RAAF C-130 Hercules - the main transport plane of the Australian Defence Force - could be left too shaken up to fight. A report by the Defence Science and Technology Organisation suggests engine noise and vibration aboard the C-130J transport aircraft can at least temporarily impair human motor and memory skills. It suggests troops to be parachuted into war zones aboard a C-130J should be seated to avoid the aircraft's high-vibration zones - usually the cabin seating area nearest the...

Iran defence minister risks the sack over plane crash Tue Dec 13, 2005 Iran's defence minister was threatened with the sack after a group of lawmakers pushed through an impeachment motion following last week's crash of a decrepit military plane in Tehran which killed 108 people. A parliament source told AFP that the speaker of the conservative-controlled Majlis had accepted the motion -- backed by 49 MPs in the 290-seat assembly -- meaning Defence Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najar will have to answer tough questions over the crash within 10 days. His appearance in parliament will be followed by a confidence...

Tehran, Dec 9 - Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami on Friday accused the United States of committing a "crime" by refusing to sell modern airplanes and parts to Iran, following a deadly plane crash that killed 108 people. "To deprive Iran of the most modern and secure (flight) apparatus is a crime against people that a power like the United States does not have the right to commit," he said. "Unfortunately, after some delay, they (the French) annulled the contract because of the US's refusal... it is a crime against humanity," Khatami said. "Political conflicts, sanctions and wars between countries...

It is very sad to see another airplane crash and it is indeed surprising to see that the passengers aboard the IRIAF C-130H were just reporters and photographers who were going to cover the Iranian Army exercises in south of the country. The simple thing that can be written about the above incident is that the Mullahcracy of Tehran has had no respect for the human life since it seized power in Islamic Revolution of 1979! But I'd like to add a little bit more to this! Every time a tragedy like this happens in Iran, the regime claims that...

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Thousands of mourners flooded central Tehran on Thursday for a funeral ceremony for more than 100 people killed in a plane crash that the families of victims have blamed on poor safety procedures. Among those killed on Tuesday were 68 journalists and media technicians, making it the worst accident involving the media anywhere in the world, officials said. "We used to see them on TV every day," said Hamid, a government employee among the crowds who packed streets in the center of the capital to join relatives and colleagues of the dead. "We will miss them very...

Iran under fire over plane crash The authorities in Iran are facing bitter criticism over Tuesday's crash of an ageing military transport plane that killed about 110 people. Reports say the plane had experienced technical problems all morning, causing the take-off to be delayed for hours. Iranian media also say the pilot had asked twice to make an emergency landing at Mehrabad airport, but had been refused because it was busy. Military officials have strongly denied any suggestion of negligence. The C-130 came down in a densely-populated residential district of south-west Tehran and ploughed into a 10-storey apartment block, setting...

TEHRAN, Iran - An Iranian military transport plane crashed after clipping a 10-story apartment building as it was trying to make an emergency landing Tuesday, ripping open the top of the structure and igniting a huge fire. At least 128 people were killed — 34 on the ground. The plane was carrying Iranian journalists to cover military maneuvers in the south, and all 94 people on the aircraft were killed. In addition to the 34 residents of the apartment building who were killed, 90 were injured, Tehran state radio said. Flames leaped out of windows and from the roof as...

Boeing’s decision finally to launch its first major 747 derivatives in nearly 20 years sets the scene for a battle at the high-value top end of the commercial airliner market and throws down the gauntlet to arch-rival Airbus to deliver on its promise that the all-new A380 will dominate the sector. The US manufacturer expects the arrival of its stretched updated passenger and freighter 747 models to constrain sales of the 555-seat A380 to fewer than 500 over the next two decades. This would be achieved by taking more than half of what Boeing projects will be a 900-unit market...

The government confirmed Tuesday that it's shopping for about 16 military transport planes to replace the oldest of its Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft, and it wants them in a hurry. The expected bill: $4 billion to $5 billion. Defence Minister Bill Graham said aircraft companies will be invited to offer planes meeting a short list of performance requirements – "a document on one page that says, 'Here's what the troops need' " – rather than the thousands of pages of specifications normally issued in big military purchases. He denied that the requirements are rigged to favour the latest Hercules model,...

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Old distrust was put aside at a Pakistani airfield on Thursday when U.S. airmen jumped in to help unload an Iranian military plane that flew in with a mobile hospital for victims of a massive earthquake. An international airlift is underway to help some 2.5 million people made homeless and an estimated 50,000 injured in the 7.6 earthquake and teams from across Europe, the Middle East, China, Japan and the United States are part of the effort. "We're all here for the same cause -- to help the people of Pakistan," said Lieutenant Erick...

From left to right, Staff Sgt. Josie E. Harshe, flight engineer; Capt. Anita T. Mack, navigator; 1st Lt. Siobhan Couturier, pilot; Capt. Carol J. Mitchell, aircraft commander; and loadmasters Tech. Sgt. Sigrid M. Carrero-Perez and Senior Airman Ci Ci Alonzo, pause in the cargo bay of their C-130 for a group photo following their historic flight. U.S. Air Force photo First All-female Crew Flies Combat Mission A crew of six Airmen at a forward deployed location climbed aboard aC-130 Hercules together recently for the first time By U.S. Air Force Capt. Michael G. Johnson 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public...

SAN ANOTNIO -- Guardsmen and reservists are used to international situations that call for them to put out fires. Now, they are doing it here at home -- literally. More than 60 guardsmen and four specially equipped C-130 Hercules from North Carolina and Wyoming Air National Guard units are battling blazes in the western United States, saving private property and lives during a perilous wildfire season that is keeping firefighters working around the clock. Aircrews from the 145th Airlift Wing and the 153rd Airlift Wing have flown more than 70 sorties this past week over Idaho, Oregon and Utah spraying...

ALI BASE, Iraq, July 11, 2005 — When a crew of instructors deployed here to teach Iraqi airmen the finer points of flying and maintaining C-130 Hercules, they knew they had a monumental task in front of them. But what they found was something unexpected. Slowly over several months, Iraqi and U.S. airmen have developed lifelong friendships with the very men they previously called enemies. “Our instructors are more than just a friend,” said Iraqi air force Capt. S, a maintenance officer with Squadron 23. “We are like brothers.” Names of Iraqi airmen were withheld as a means of force...

FORT HUACHUCA - There's Rocket Man and Smokey Sam. One is a human, the other isn't. Guess which is which. On Friday, Rocket Man launched Smokey Sam. Rocket Man, actually two Air Force noncommissioned officers, were firing small simulated surface-to-air missiles near C-130 aircraft as part of a threat site training program. On a hill on Fort Huachuca's East Range, Master Sgt. Rick Karlslyst and Staff Sgt. Greg Dunlap set up a battery of six pretend SAMs. Cargo aircraft from Puerto Rico Air National Guard, Marine Reserve and Belgium Air Force units flew by during the aircrew's flight training on...

WASHINGTON - The Boeing Co. must compete again for Air Force work worth more than $3 billion to upgrade C-130 cargo planes because of a conflict of interest in the original deal, the Air Force said In a letter this week, Michael Dominguez, acting secretary of the Air Force, said a 2001 contract awarded to Boeing was tainted by Darleen Druyun, a former senior Air Force official who has admitted giving special treatment to the Chicago-based jet maker. Druyun, who later took a job at Boeing, is now serving nine months in prison for violating federal conflict-of-interest laws. The Air...

WASHINGTON, April 25, 2005 – America today honored eight American servicemen who died trying to rescue American hostages in Iran 25 years ago. A ceremony here, on the 25th anniversary of their deaths, brought together the families of those killed, their comrades and those servicemembers who carry on the special operations mission. In November 1'7' Iranian militants took 53 Americans in the U.S. Embassy in Tehran hostage. It was the most egregious violation of the principles of diplomacy in the history of statecraft, L. Bruce Laingen, the highest-ranking American taken hostage, said at today's ceremony. On April 25, 1'80, the...

A desperate mission to rescue 53 American hostages from Iran ended in failure and the deaths of eight servicemen, but it is being remembered 25 years later as a turning point for U.S. special operations forces that eventually led to successes in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo and elsewhere. Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force veterans of Operation Eagle Claw, families of those who lost their lives and a support group are gathering this weekend for an anniversary reunion and remembrance in the Florida Panhandle. Mere failure turned into fiery disaster when a helicopter collided with a transport plane at...

ST. LOUIS, April 4, 2005 — The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) has been awarded a $134 million contract by the U.S. Air Force to begin the first phase of a program to modify 10 C-130 aircraft into the MC-130H Combat Talon II configuration. The MC-130H Combat Talon II provides Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) the capability to insert, extract and re-supply special operations forces and equipment in hostile or denied territory, and the ability to provide air-to-air refueling of other special operations forces aircraft. “United States special operations forces play a vital role in the war on terror,” said Pat...

TIRANA, Albania - Search teams recovered the bodies Friday of nine Americans killed when a U.S. military aircraft crashed in mountainous southern Albania during a joint exercise, Albanian military authorities said. The C-130 airplane crashed Thursday night near the remote village of Rovie, in the Drizez Mountains, 60 miles southeast of the Balkan country's capital, Tirana. No one on board survived, said Albanian army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Pellumb Qazimi. Four bodies were found earlier Friday, and five more were found inside the plane, Albanian officials said. The military transport was assigned to the 352nd Special Operations Group based...

TIRANA (AFP) - A US military plane ploughed into a mountain in an isolated, snow-covered area of Albania, exploding on impact with nine military personnel aboard, Albanian Transport Minister Spartak Poci and witnesses said."Nine Americans were on board the aircraft and they probably haven't survived," said Albanian defense ministry spokesman Agim Doci.The plane, a C-130 transport plane, struck a mountain after apparently flying too low in an uninhabited region near the town of Gramsh, 150 kilometers (95 miles) south of the Albanian capital Tirana.The US embassy and NATO officials in Tirana would not comment on the crash.Rescue operations were hampered...

ST. LOUIS, March 21, 2005 -- The Boeing Company's (NYSE: BA) C-130 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) reached another milestone March 15, when a pre-Development, Test and Evaluation (DT&E) U.S. Air Force MC-130E Combat Talon I aircraft achieved first flight at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. "The flight-test program will reduce development risk associated with the C-130 AMP terrain following system which allows the C-130 to fly low over various types of terrain," said Dave Koopersmith, Boeing AMP program manager. "This pre development activity will allow the most efficient delivery of the weapon system to the warfighter." This first flight verified...

ANGEL DECOY Air Force C-130 releasing flares to repel heat seeking Missiles.   The pattern formed by these decoys is how they got their name . . .  "Angel decoy."

Pope AFB Loses Nearly Half Of C-130 Fleet To Grounding Delegation Hopes To Update Fleet POSTED: 8:09 am EST February 15, 2005 FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- Nearly half of the aging C-130 airplanes at Pope Air Force Base have been grounded because of safety concerns, military officials said. Col. Darren W. McDew, 43rd Airlift Wing commander, said Monday 14 of the 31 four-propeller C-130 Hercules have at Pope are prevented from flying. The planes are used for missions as diverse as dropping Fort Bragg paratroopers on training exercises and hauling cargo around the Persian Gulf. Some members of the North Carolina...

Globalist Perspective > Global Politics Tsunami Relief — The Great Indian Absence By Ashutosh Sheshabalaya | Wednesday, February 09, 2005 Why did the U.S. and European media virtually ignore the post-tsunami relief efforts mounted by the Indian military? Ashutosh Sheshabalaya argues that this failure is just another sign of the West’s inability to get over its stereotypes of India as a backward country. It’s time for the global community to give due recognition to this fast-emerging giant — or risk itself becoming out-of-date. n January 5, 2005, several thousand tons of wreckage and debris were cleared from Sri Lanka’s tsunami-crippled...

Air Force grounding some older cargo planes that are flying in Iraq ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 — The Air Force said Friday it is grounding 30 of its oldest C-130 cargo planes and putting flight restrictions on 60 others after discovering unexpectedly severe wing cracks. The moves include about a dozen C-130s that have been hauling supplies in Iraq, but that is not expected to have a major impact on the war effort. Gen. John Jumper, the Air Force chief of staff, told a Senate committee Thursday that the planes in Iraq would be replaced by newer ones. Jumper...

February 9, 2005 Release Number: 05-02-09 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE IRAQI PILOTS RECEIVE C-130 TRAININGBAGHDAD, Iraq -- A five-man crew from Squadron 23 of the Iraqi Air Force trained for the first time on flying and operating an American C-130 cargo plane outside of Iraq's air space. A crew of U.S. Air Force pilots used a five-hour round-trip flight to Amman, Jordan as a training exercise for the Iraqi pilots and crew members. Five other crews from Squadron 23, of Ali Base in Talil, Iraq, were passengers on the flight, heading to training in Jordan. One crew will continue traveling to...

2/11/2005 - SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (AFPN) -- Thirty E-model C-130 Hercules were grounded Feb. 10, and 60 other models including some E, H, H1 and HC-130P/N were placed on restricted flight status. Gen. John W. Handy, commander of Air Mobility Command, directed the grounding and restricted flight status to minimize wing stress and increase the safety margin. The aircraft were grounded after a recommendation by C-130 System Program Office officials at Robins Air Force Base, Ga. Since 2001, a series of inspections of the center wing box structure revealed that were greater in number and severity that originally...