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C-133 Missions
This page will go into some of the interesting and
challenging missions flown by C-133s all over the world. Most of what is shown
below comes from a 1971 article in the Travis AFB Global Ranger, so they
reflect 84th MAS missions. There were many that the 1st
and 39th flew out of Dover that I don’t have details on. These would include
a 1962 3-ship deployment to India, where C-133 crewmembers put stickers on Soviet
transports also involved there, and the 1959 Paris Air Show, where stickers again were a prominent part of
the operation. Two Travis airplanes flew a round-the-world flight and details
will be posted when they are available. Anyone with information to add, please contact me.
Drifter's Reef, Wake Island
before 1970
Waldo Fuller
Drifter's Reef, Wake
Island
Terry Wall
An important part of every
mission was crew rest. One of the best known crew rest locations was the famous
Drifter's Reef, on Wake
Island. For many years,
it was in the rustic structure in this picture. Then, sometime in about 1970,
facilities on Wake Island were upgraded and made of more durable materials,
namely, concrete block. But, thanks to Waldo Fuller, you can all remind
yourselves of that important place.
The C-133 took part in many major exercises, where its ability to carry
outsized or very heavy cargo made it extremely valuable. These exercises
extended from the United States to many parts of the world. As the Vietnam War made
increased demands upon the United States military, the C-133 routinely made long trips from Dover
AFB, Delaware and Travis AFB, California to locations in Southeast Asia (SEA).
Major
Named Exercises
Big
Slam/Puerto Pine (14-28 March 1960)
First participation in a joint military operation, which took
place in Puerto
Rico.
Tip
Top (October 1960)
Long
Pass (February 1961)
February 1961. Aircraft used to deploy US troops and equipment to the Republic
of the Philippines.
Check
Mate II (September 1961)
Great
Shelf/Tagpo (January-February 1962)
Long
Thrust IIA (January-February 1962)
New
Tape (January and October 1962)
Back
Porch (May-July 1962)
Swift
Strike II (July-August 1962)
Three
Pairs (September-October 1962)
Cuban
Missile Crisis (October 1962)
Coulee
Crest (April-May 1963)
Tidal
Wave (May-July 1963)
Swift
Strike III (July-August 1963)
Big
Lift (October 1963)
Operation
Delawar (April 1964)
Desert
Strike (April-June 1964)
Indian River (June 1964)
Gold
Fire I (October-November 1964)
Ayacucho
(December 1964)
Blue
Light (December 1965-January 1966)
1966. 23
Dec 65-23 Jan 66. Participated in the airlift of the 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Div
from Schofield Barracks, HI to Pleiku AB, RVN.
Eagle
Thrust (November-December 1967)
17 Nov-29 Dec 67. Airlift of
the entire 101st Airborne Division from Ft Campbell, KY to Bien
Hoa, RVN.
Combat
Fox (January-February 1968)
Reforger
II (January 1969)
Acid
Test (February 1969)
Project
Eclipse (March 1969)
Fig
Hill (September 1970)
Unusual
and Outsize Cargo Missions
Over its service life, the C-133 transported
an immense variety of cargo all over the world. When it was something heavy or
very large, the C-133 was the only airplane with combination of lift, size and
range to do the job. Not until the C-5 Galaxy came into service in 1971 could
another US military aircraft transport such loads.
October 1961. C-133 delivers three
pieces of snow equipment to McMurdo Sound, Antarctica.
This information is from a chronology posted by VX-6, the US Navy flying squadron that operated in Antarctica for
decades. It is subject to revision.
December 1961. Transport booster for John
Glenn’s first flight to Cape
Canaveral.
1962. First Titan II ICBM airlifted from
Denver, CO, to Cape Canaveral.
Late 1962. First of many Minuteman ICBMs
airlifted. Carried in air-conditioned, humidity
controlled containers to bases including Malmstrom AFB, Montana, Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, and Minot AFB, North Dakota.
October
27, 1963. First launch vehicle
for Project Gemini moved to Cape
Canaveral.
October 1963. Airlift of emergency relief
supplies to Trinidad
and Tobago
after Hurricane Flora.
December 1963. First C-133
to New Zealand.
Carried propeller and propeller shaft for icebreaker USS Atka to Wellington.
Relief Mission to Costa Rica
Ray Kohler was
on one of three C-133 crews involved in relief missions to Costa Rica, from 21
May 64 to 30 May 64. They flew out of Gulfport, MS to San Jose, Costa Rica, hauling Sea Bees and their earthmoving equipment
because of a large volcano that was causing much damage there. The volcano had
diverted a large river and was causing a lot of flooding. Ray’s was the
first C-133 to land at El Coco International Airport. There was much difficulty
finding the airport because of the thick volcanic ash in the air. When we
landed there was volcanic ash piled up on the side of the runway about 2 ft.
high.
There was about 2000 people there to watch the landing and the
President of Costa
Rica came
out to the plane and shook the hand of every crewmember. The 3 big news media
were there and took films but Ray never saw anything on the news about the
mission. John Burnett was the AC on Ray’s plane. The crew stayed in San Jose at a very nice hotel and was treated like kings by the
local people. Ray made 2 flights into El Coco.
December 1964. Airlifted relief supplies to Korea for orphanages.
January 1965. Transported
prefabricated classrooms to Peshawar, Pakistan.
September 1966. Airlifted replacement propeller
for aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea to Atsugi NAS, Japan. Load weighed a total of 36,000
pounds.
November 1966. Airlift research equipment to
Brazil for study of a solar eclipse.
February 1967. Moved a
complete satellite tracking station to the Philippines.
April 1967, First aerial delivery of CH-47
helicopters to Vietnam.
April 1967. First air
shipment of a mobile aeromedical evacuation center from Travis AFB to Vietnam.
April 1967. Delivered US Navy photographic
laboratory to Australia.
August 1967. First airlift
of 34,000-pound diesel submarine engine to Japan.
1968. Airlifted deep-sea research vessel
from California to Massachusetts to search for lost sister ship, Alvin. First airlift of a submersible
vehicle.
1963-1969. Airdrops of Apollo Command Service Module to test Apollo ground
landing system. Drops were from over 30,000’ to DZs
on El Centro NAS, CA.
October 1970. A Dover C-133 airlifts two Hueys and a larger helicopter from
Quonset Point NAS, RI, to McMurdo
Sound, Antarctica.
Total distance was more than 25,000 miles.
Alternative C-133
cargo loads included the following, but many others were carried:
Four OH-1 Bird Dog
observation aircraft.
Five UH-I Huey helicopters.
Two HH-3 Jolly Green Giant
helicopters.
One CH-47 Chinook
heavy-lift helicopter.
One Sikorsky Skycrane heavy-lift helicopter.
One F-4 Phantom fighter.
One each of Atlas, Titan,
Thor, Jupiter, Snark or Hound Dog missiles.
11 pallets of cargo.
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Copyright Cal
Taylor 2000