Drop Zone

The kids and I were treated to another awesome day at Daddy's work. One day last week, Jason had to work the drop zone and invited us to come along! Because part of the C-130's mission is to drop cargo out of the airplane, it's something that has to be practiced so the crew stays current on their qualifications. There is so much to say about the drop zone and about our experiences, so I'll try to keep to a minimum. I started this post with Jason sitting next to me, neglected it for a few days, and now he's on a trip for a week! I'll do my best to describe everything, but I'm sure there will be an edited version of this post once Jason reads it.

Q: What is a drop zone?
A: For Jason's unit, they have a contract with a local farmer (a little over an hour out of town) to use his property to drop. He has thousands of acres and they only use a few acres at a time, so it's easy for him to move cattle and horses to another area during a drop.

Q: What is the pilot on the ground's responsibility at the drop zone?
A: (At least) one pilot drives a 4-wheel drive (very important detail) Air Force truck out to the drop zone while the flight crew prepares the aircraft for the flight. The truck is equipped with a CB radio that allows the pilot on the ground to talk to the Air Force guys on the ground who are responsible for lighting smoke as a visual for the flight crew in the air and they pick up the dropped cargo and return it to base. The truck is also equipped with a radio that allows communication between the pilot on the ground and the air crew. When we first arrived, Jason had to set up a target:



Now, there is a special name for this target and for some reason that name has slipped my memory. It's basically a large orange triangle that can easily be seen from the air. The goal is to drop the cargo from the C-130, directly onto the target. Anything within fifty feet of the target is considered a good drop. The four wheel drive is neccessary due to the rough terrain of the field. There are no roads in the middle of a farm field, so they are forced to drive through mud and even really tall grass at times.

Q: What does the pilot on the ground do once he has the target in place?
A: There are some other things he's looking out for while he waits to hear that the flight crew is inbound. He continues to keep his eyes peeled for livestock or large wild animals that may be injured during a drop. Sometimes the farmer is mowing this part of his property, so they'll ask him to stop until the drops are finished (no worries, I was informed that the gov't gives this farmer plenty of money that he is not offended if asked to stop his work). Every chance he gets, he is also checking the wind speed and direction. This is critical information for the crew so they know when to release the cargo (so that they float in the right direction using the wind) and they know if a drop is a possibility. Some things cannot be dropped at high wind speeds.

And then he waits.


Q: What does the pilot do while he's waiting?
A: Play a game of catch!

I think Jason typically brings a lunch with him, so he'll eat during this time, play games on his phone, watch a movie on his phone or read. The other guys there took this time to get a 20 minute nap in. I had packed a picnic lunch, but because it was windy and cold, we decided to eat in daddy's work truck. After we ate, we were informed that the plane took off late, so Jaxon and Jason played some catch, while Dakota ran around singing.


Jax and his daddy waiting in the truck.



Kota and Daddy.



Q: Once the plane is inbound, what are the responsibilities on the ground?
A: The crew informed Jason when they wanted the smoke lit, Jason then radioed the guys on the ground "smoke". Once they were fairly close, he radioed the air one more time, this time saying: "You are clear to drop."

On this particular day, Jason had some help on his radio!



Here is Jaxon on the radio, letting them know they are "clear to drop". They did a total of 5 drops, I think Jaxon got to clear them on two of the five!




Here comes the drop!


Q: What do they drop?
A: It's basically a large crate with a plastic water tank inside. The tank is filled with water (to create weight) and then a parachute is attached. Jason dropped several crates while he was in Afghanistan. One particular mission they did over there, they nicknamed "Operation Turkey Drop". They dropped crates of Thanksgiving dinner to some of the more remote bases there. They also did some drops of supplies to our guys on the ground over there.

Q: What does the pilot on the ground do in between each drop?
A: Jason drove to the drop and measured its distance from the target. Then he radioed the flight crew with a drop score, letting them know if they were on target or how far from target if they weren't on target. Then he drove the truck to a different spot for the next drop. Each drop came in from a different direction.


After the final drop, the crew was so kind to do a high-speed low pass for us. We let the kids get out of the car for this. Once Dakota saw the inbound plane, she was waving like crazy:


The crew was so cool that they even waved those big wings at us! This whole day was such an awesome experience for us. I don't think Jaxon will ever forget his experience at the drop zone and to this day he is still reenacting the entire thing; from every drop, to the high-speed low pass, to the waving of the wings.


Here comes the Herk!



One of the drops: