COMMENTARY>>21 Little Rock Herks lend muscle to Army exercise

A large-scale formation of 26 C-130 Hercules aircraft, including 21 from Little Rock Air Force Base, took off from the base Monday to take part in a Joint Readiness Training Center exercise.

As part of the Army exercise, the 26 C-130s flew to Alexandria International Airport in Alexandria, La., to pick up approximately 1,700 Army 82nd Airborne Division’s 3rd Brigade paratroopers and tons of cargo from Fort Bragg, N.C., and airdropped them near Fort Polk, La.

“It’s a cool opportunity. Flying in general has always been what we all want to do,” said Capt. Morgan Musser, 61st Airlift Squadron pilot. “The culmination is getting to fly a 31-ship formation which is something you don’t get to do very often. And to work with the Army is an opportunity to exercise today for what could be real world tomorrow.”

Joined by five C-17 Globemaster IIIs for a total massive formation of 31 cargo aircraft, they airdropped the Soldiers and supplies into the heart of the Army’s exercise at Fort Polk.

“I think this is great training. It’s stuff you don’t see often, especially with a 31-ship formation dropping personnel,” said Staff Sgt. Greg Flores, 41st Airlift Squadron loadmaster. “When I became a loadmaster, I wanted to do things that immediately affected what was going on in the warzone. We normally carry cargo from place to place, but we don’t [transport] personnel very often, so doing the JRTC is great training.”

The Joint Readiness Training Center provides realistic training using scenarios that allow integration between joint military organizations, host nations and civilian role-players.

“It’s the unknown that we train for, in case we have to get a mass amount of people there,” said Captain Musser. “The large formation is how we’ll be doing that so it’s good we practice that once in a while now so we’re not caught completely off-guard.”

The 26 aircraft were a combination of C-130E and H legacy models and the newest model, the C-130J.

(Courtesy of the 19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs)