Heavy Hauling

Active-duty and Air Force Reserve Command C-5 aircrews from Dover AFB, Delaware, delivered more than four million pounds of cargo to Afghanistan from 15 June through 10 July 2010 to support surge operations. Crews flying two C-5M Super Galaxys and two C-5B Galaxys delivered 103 CH-47 Chinook, AH-64 Apache, and UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters and associated equipment to the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, which deployed from Fort Hood, Texas, to Afghanistan in mid-July. The helicopters were initially transported by sea to Rota, Spain. From there, the Dover crews transported them to locations in Afghanistan. Over the course of the surge, the C-5M’s mission capable rate, which is the ability of the aircraft to perform its mission, was more than eighty percent.