Retrograde complete

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Zachary Cacicia
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  Operation Enduring Freedom officially ended in Afghanistan this past December and Team Dover played a key part in recovering equipment and materials during the recently concluded retrograde mission.

The 436th and 512th Airlift Wings' combined armada of C-5M Super Galaxies and C-17 Globemaster IIIs from the 9th, 709th, 3d and 326th Airlift Squadrons have done their part to bring back millions of pounds of cargo and hundreds of passengers.

"The Afghanistan retrograde was a tribute to the teamwork, innovation and bold leadership of mobility Airmen who continually deliver mission excellence," said Col. Michael Grismer, 436th AW commander. "Success was enabled through a complete total force effort, and innovative Airmen leveraging a game-changing flying machine (the C-5M) to achieve incredible results in a non-traditional short haul airlift role." 

The mission pushed the envelope of Team Dover's airlift capability and broke Air Mobility Command operation cargo load records.

These retrograde operations were necessitated by Afghanistan's geography, being that it is a landlocked country. Not having a coastline means no Afghan maritime ports, and no direct access to the sea, which created a need for the Air Force and its mobility aircraft to transport equipment and materials out of the country. Some of the materials were flown directly back to the U.S., while the majority of the cargo was flown to nearby ports to be transported back on cargo ships. 

C-5Ms, C-17s and C-130 Hercules aircraft combined with active duty and Reserve Airmen from units other than Dover AFB took part in these operations, including those from MacDill AFB, Florida, Travis AFB, California, Fairchild AFB, Washington and Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington.

Team Dover's C-5M fleet alone flew a total of 1,083 hours on 152 missions, carrying a total cargo weight of 25.485 million pounds and 447 passengers between Aug. and Dec. 2014.

A highlight of these retrograde operations saw a Dover C-5M breaking a record.

"We broke several records," said Lt. Col. Jonathan Diaz, 9th AS director of operations. "To include achieving a record load of carrying 280,880 pounds with 8 MRAPs (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected) on one single mission."

These were just eight of the estimated 50,000 U.S. military vehicles in Afghanistan that were deemed recoverable.

But vehicles and equipment were not the most important things to be brought back. Capt. Taylor Coffey, 3d AS assistant chief of training, who is a C-17 pilot and has just returned from a retrograde deployment with the 780th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, cherished being part of these operations, especially when it came to returning troops back home.

"There was a big surge to get back all of these troops prior to the holidays," said Coffey. "We took pride in flying back full of Army and Marine troops. They were always stoked to be back for Thanksgiving or Christmas."

At the end of the mission, Team Dover played a key part in returning troops and equipment that have been used in a war that has lasted over a decade, helping bring this chapter in American history to an end.