Global rangers: Air Mobility Command's airlift, tanker fleet provide necessary worldwide reach.

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Bringing heavyweights to the joint fight is the main concern of the commander of Air Mobility Command. The heavyweights, in the form of mobility airlift and tankers are what Gen. Arthur J. Lichte and his 132,000 active duty, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve Airmen and civilian counterparts, keep in the fight on a daily basis.

According to officials at the Combined Air Operations Center in Southwest Asia, mobility airlift and tanker operations account for about 70 percent of sorties flown in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. Since Sept. 11,2001. AMC aircraft have transported more than 12 million passengers--equivalent to moving the population of metropolitan Los Angeles. In addition, command aircrews delivered more than 4.5 million tons of cargo--nearly 92,000 fully-loaded semi trucks.

"Amazingly, on average, one mobility aircraft departs every 90 seconds, every day, 365 days a year," said General Lichte, AMC commander. "But air mobility doesn't just happen; it is the product of incredible Airmen performing an extraordinary mission, delivering the closed fist of justice or the open hand of freedom and hope, anywhere at any time. We're all in the joint fight."

The heavyweights in the fight are the C-17 Globemaster IIIs and C-5 Galaxys that bring supplies and weapon systems coalition forces need like M1 Abrams tanks and Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles.

And when airfields aren't readily available, AMC crews can deliver cargo to ground forces via airdrop, or land C-130s on short minimally prepared strips.

New upgrades, like the Joint Precision Airdrop System, use global positioning that provides increased control upon release from the aircraft.

"JPADS allows us to drop supplies from high altitudes with pinpoint accuracy, keeping our air crews and ground troops less exposed to hostile fire ... and that's saving lives," General Lichte said.

AMC Airmen save lives in non-war environments as well by playing a crucial role in providing humanitarian support at home and around the world. Operating out of more than 170 countries, AMC Airmen provide lifesaving care, humanitarian airlift, precision airdrop, port opening, and worldwide air refueling.

"On the aerial refueling side of the mobility mission, tankers are a critical force enabler and force multiplier of air power, making it possible for other Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and allied aircraft to fly farther, stay airborne longer and carry more weapons, equipment and supplies," General Lichte said.

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The total force tanker fleet, consisting of Air National Guard, Reserve and active duty crews, fly about 130 sorties on an average day, offloading fuel roughly equivalent to 16 Olympic-sized pools to more than 330 receivers. Some of these tankers keep combat air patrol fighters in the air over the U.S. performing their homeland defense mission. Other tankers fuel fighters moving from stateside to their deployment locations or to refuel airlift aircraft such as C-Ss and C-17s as they deliver cargo. Tankers also perform aeromedical evacuation missions daily when required.

Though the tankers get the job done, the KC-135 is a 50-year-old plane and changes to the aging fleet are underway.

"Imagine traveling from New York to California in a 1957 Chevy," General Lichte said. "It might get you there, but what if it breaks down on the side of the road and needs a fan belt or a water pump? You probably won't be able to get parts, and the nearest gas station won't be able to repair it. That's our KC-135, the core of our tanker fleet. We don't like to consider the options if our tanker is broken on the side of the road."

Though the KC-135 continues to handle the majority of the refueling mission, General Lichte said AMC officials anticipate the acquisition process will begin this year for the new KC-X.

The general also said the new tankers will allow AMC operators to take advantage of the technological advances in aviation development from the last 50 years and he stressed the importance of tankers.

"Without tankers, we'd have to quadruple the number of fighters and other aircraft to sustain operations," General Lichte said. "Without tankers, a bomber would have at least two enroute stops with crew rest and would not arrive over target until day three at the earliest. Tankers allow us to launch a bomber from the Midwest, and with multiple aerial refuelings, arrive on target half-way around the world that same day," he said.

"No other country in the world can consistently do that ... nobody," the general said. "Humanitarian and aeromedical evacuation missions also are impacted. Without tankers, we lose options because we can't get people, equipment and supplies to their destination in a hurry. Some countries won't let us overfly or land. If you don't have tankers, you can't get wounded troops back rapidly to the U.S."

The C-5 Galaxy is undergoing modernization with more powerful engines as well as reliability enhancements. After the extensive upgrades the aircraft is then known as the C-5M Super Galaxy. The new engines are capable of delivering a 22 percent increase in thrust and a 58 percent faster climb rate, and they allow significantly more cargo to be hauled over longer distances.

"I recently had the opportunity to deliver the first of 52 C-5M aircraft," General Lichte said. "The C-5M has a modernized avionics system as well as new engines and engine subsystems that will greatly improve its capability and reliability. "Furthermore, we are working on modernizing the avionics of the entire C-5 fleet," General Lichte said.

AMC's people and "heavyweights" will continue to evolve and train to meet challenges, General Lichte said.

"No one in the world can do what we do," he said. "To continue to be the best, AMC will improve, innovate, overcome, and adapt to changes in the world to ensure our ability to provide worldwide, world-class airlift, air refueling, aeromedical evacuation, and the necessary global reach laydown to support our joint and coalition partners.

STORY BY TECH. SGT. MATTHEW MCGOVERN PHOTOS SGT. DESIREE PALACIOS DESIGN BY S. PATRICK HARRIS