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End of an era: OG/CC and E-model fly out for last time

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Chris Hoyler
  • 43rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs
POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. --  The 43rd Airlift Wing said goodbye to the C-130E June 27 in a ceremony that also served as the final flight for 43rd Operations Group Commander Michael Thornton. 

The flight capped a 45-year active duty run for the aircraft, which will continue to operate at several Air Mobility Command bases. 

One of those bases is Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark., where Colonel Thornton completed Friday's flight. It was the end of a flying career come full circle, as the colonel had his first E-model landing at the same base in 1985. 

Colonel Thornton's first assignment out of pilot training was to the 50th Airlift Squadron at Little Rock, a squadron he later commanded. He extended the day to his family, who also has a large stake in Little Rock, as both his wife and son were born there. His wife marshaled the aircraft off the ramp here and his son marshaled him in at Little Rock.
"I couldn't have planned it any better," Colonel Thornton said. 

The ceremony was attended by more than 100 Pope Airmen and several local civic leaders, including Fayetteville Mayor Tony Chavonne and Spring Lake Mayor Ethel Clark.
Col. Craig Berlette, 43rd Maintenance Group Commander, spoke to the crowd prior to takeoff about what it took from his Airmen to keep tail number 63-7868, an aircraft that arrived at Pope in 1964, running efficiently. 

Based on the current utilization rate, the aircraft that left Friday has approximately seven years of world-wide service life remaining, said Colonel Berlette. Much of that is due to the 43rd MXG's Isochronal inspection, an extremely intensive process that was accomplished over a 34-day period following the aircraft's recent redeployment from Southwest Asia. 

"More than 5,000 man-hours were invested in the final inspection effort," Colonel Berlette said. "And we've met our goal to provide Little Rock with a high quality, fully mission capable aircraft." 

In defining the performance of the aircraft over a five-decade span, Col. John McDonald, 43rd Airlift Wing Commander, rhetorically asked how many 45-year-old cars are seen being driven around on a daily basis. 

"It gets the mission done every time," Colonel McDonald said. "You are seeing a piece of history leaving Pope." 

The active-duty flying mission continues at Pope, though, thanks to the burgeoning partnership between the 43rd AW and the 440th Airlift Wing, which transferred to Pope from Milwaukee last year in one of the initial steps in the Base Realignment and Closure process. 

With pilots from the 43rd OG now exclusively flying the 440th AWs newer C-130H model planes, Colonel Thornton said local residents will not recognize the difference in Pope's daily mission. 

"The end of this era will not be noticed by the crews or customers at Pope," Colonel Thornton said. "The 440th aircraft that are on the ramp today have filled the void perfectly. In fact, it is hard to tell the difference between an E and H for most folks." 

As Colonel Thornton and tail number 63-7868 taxied out of Pope for the last time, several Airmen from both the 43rd OG and 43rd MXG became a little emotional. The cheer that rose from the crowd as the plane climbed overhead was a bittersweet one, but the dozen or so aircraft still on the flightline in the backdrop were a reminder that Pope will still be one of the Armed Forces most important flying centers as missions throughout the world are conducted in the Hercules. 

"We want everyone to know we're still going to be here, flying everyday," Chief Master Sgt. Dave Niehaus, 43rd OG Chief Enlisted Manager, said. 

"It's the end of an era, but not the end of flying at Pope."