Kandahar Swap Out

Posted 1 September 2013
Photo by Capt. Brian Maguire

In early September 2013, US aircrews flying C-5A Galaxy and C-5M Super Galaxy airlifters completed moving more than 120 helicopters between Europe and Afghanistan during a multimodal equipment swap out between the US Army’s 1st and 3rd Combat Aviation Brigades. The helicopters were first moved by train from Fort Riley, Kansas, to a US port and were then loaded on a ship for transport to Europe. There the helicopters were trans-loaded onto the C-5s and flown directly to Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan. The C-5A crews were from the 433rd Airlift Wing, the Air Force Reserve Command unit at JB Lackland-San Antonio, Texas. The C-5M crews were from the active duty 436th AW and the Reserve 512th AW at Dover AFB, Delaware.

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