Frozen Flyers: Pope teams up with 440th AW Published March 19, 2007 By Maj. Ken Fiedler 43rd Operations Support Squadron POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- To the ice fisherman in central Minnesota, the formation of eight C-130's flying over their frozen lake Saturday may have looked all the same, but a closer look would have revealed an assortment of tail flashes. "Strength in Diversity" could have been the motto on this day as Hercules crews from two Air Force Reserve, one Air National Guard and one active duty squadron flew a low-level airdrop and airland training mission led by the Air Force Reserve Command's 934th Airlift Wing, based at Minneapolis-St. Paul Air Reserve Station. Originally planned as a 43rd Airlift Wing quarterly visit to the Milwaukee-based, but Pope-bound, 440th Airlift Wing, the crew from Pope's 2nd Airlift Squadron was instead vectored to Minneapolis. As part of the Guard and Reserve unit training assembly weekend, crews from the four squadrons briefed and flew two low-level routes culminating in two separate resupply airdrops. A day earlier the Pope crew had arrived at the tail end of a winter storm, demanding close attention to old lessons. On the day of the tactical mission, aircraft commander Capt. Chris Hand, along with copilot 1st Lt. Alex Bonilla, navigator 1st Lt. Gregory Little, flight engineer Master Sgt. Mac McDowell, loadmasters Master Sgt. Roger Carpenter, Senior Airman Anthony Clark, Senior Airman Drew Holsenback and Australian Air Force exchange Flight Lt. Luke McMaster, dived right into the coordination required to make the mission a success. Success was the name of the game as all eight aircraft launched out of a busy international airport and nailed the time over target for resupply airdrops simulating heavy equipment and Container Delivery System. A debrief followed, and all agreed that while the unit patches and major commands are different, there are more similarities among the C-130 operators and maintainers. Lieutenant McMaster, soon to end his exchange tour and head back "Down Under," can now claim to have seen the largest C-130 formation and the largest snow storm of his career.