{"id":48205,"date":"2018-05-18T16:45:30","date_gmt":"2018-05-18T16:45:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/05\/18\/air-force-c-17s-resume-airdrops-in-afghanistan-after-more-than-a-year\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:04:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:04:31","slug":"air-force-c-17s-resume-airdrops-in-afghanistan-after-more-than-a-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/05\/18\/air-force-c-17s-resume-airdrops-in-afghanistan-after-more-than-a-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Force C-17s resume airdrops in Afghanistan after more than a year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The C-17 Globemaster III<\/a> has resumed combat airdrops to remote bases in Afghanistan for the first time in roughly a year and a half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the first drops was conducted by an Al Udeid-based C-17 over undisclosed outposts in southern Afghanistan<\/a>, between May 10 and 11.
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\u201cOur tasking and the aircraft selection for this mission really comes down to the C-17\u2019s larger cargo capacity,\u201d said Maj. Nicholas Coblio, the aircraft\u2019s commander from the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron out of Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe C-17 can complete this mission with one aircraft in one pass, minimizing risk and maximizing productivity,\u201d Coblio added in a U.S. Central Command<\/a> press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Paratroopers from the 782nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division watch as C-17 Globemaster IIIs air drop combat cargo bundles carrying food and water in Paktika Province, Afghanistan, October 11. (U.S. Army photo\/Spc. Micah E. Clare)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Officials from U.S. Air Forces Central Command would only say the resumption of C-17 airdrops is \u201crequirements based,\u201d and didn\u2019t attribute the use of the large airlift assets to any specific changes in the threat environment for smaller, lighter aircraft. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Airdrop missions also reduce the risk undertaken by rotary-wing aircraft, which would have to loiter on the ground near one of these remote Afghan bases for much longer as pallets of supplies are unloaded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis airdrop represents a very significant mission \u2014 delivering needed supplies while reducing the burden and risk on our Army helicopter and maintenance crews,\u201d said Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 David Beville of the 3rd Infantry Division Resolute Support Sustainment Brigade that maintains tasking authority for the 824th.
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