An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

RAAF throttles up on Hickam's C-17s

  • Published
  • By Kirsten Tacker
  • Kukini Photojournalist
HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii --  The Royal Australian Air Force currently has six crewmembers embedded in the 535th Airlift Squadron to prepare them for their first Globemaster III. 

That is the immediate goal for both squadrons. The larger goal is to strengthen its continued relations between the U.S. and Australian Air Forces. 

The RAAF will not have the same set up as Hickam's simulator and computer based
training until 2010. Every six months the RAAF will return here for training. 

"In addition to taking these guys in and training them to fly the C-17, we want to bolster
already good relations between the U.S. and Australia," said Capt. William Martin, 535th AS. 

The 535th AS wants to promote what they've labeled as inter-operability. 

"In the future our goal is if we need to fly missions together, we can do it with a very seamless transition," said Captain Martin. "Interoperability is the eventual goal." 

The 535th AS will illustrate to the RAAF how the C-17 operates in the Air Force system,
while preparing crewmembers to be mission ready. 

"In addition to that, we want to take them in and enhance their corporate knowledge by always flying with instructors," said Captain Martin. "This will increase their real world experience by flying as many missions as possible." 

The 86 Wing Detachment A's Wing Commander, Linda Corbould, arrived on Sept. 30. 

"We began working with the U.S. Air Force when we were buying the airplanes
back in Australia," said WGCDR Corbould. "Then we realized when we did our training we wouldn't have an airplane for about four months after we did the initial qualification at Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma earlier this year." 

In an effort to keep current and gain more experience after their training, the RAAF approached the U.S. Air Force to place their crewmembers into their squadrons. 

"We have six located here at Hickam, three pilots and three loadmasters and six at
McChord Air Force Base," she said. "Everyone here's been great and the appreciation
has been great. People have looked after us." 

Currently some the crew are on trips to Alaska and Japan. 

"We need to train and get experience flying the C-17 until we get our first airplane. We are definitely getting more experience," said WGCDR Corbould. 

The RAAF pilots and loadmasters have amassed many different experiences here.
One of their loadmaster's first missions was to Biggs Army Airfield, Texas. 

"It was moving the terminal high altitude area defense weapon system," said Warrant
Officer John Maddigan, 86 WD A. "We picked up the equipment and took it to Barking Sands in Kauai." 

Acclimating to the systems and the process of getting airborne on a C-17 compared to a C-130 took some modifications. 

"The task was a big eye opener for us, because we traditionally have operated small
aircraft, the C-130's," he said. "The task is quite different from what we would normally be doing. We'd moved pallets and people around in a logistics role before, but the dynamics of what you carry on this aircraft are just out of this world for us."