913 AG Aircrews participate in Operation Tenacious Turtle

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Jeff Walston
  • 913th Airlift Group
Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark. --  Twelve U.S. Air Force Reserve Airmen joined Active-duty and Air National Guard aircrews for Operation Tenacious Turtle at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, Nov. 21, 2017.

Assigned to the 327th Airlift Squadron, 913th Airlift Group, the Reservists made up three of the 14 C-130J aircraft aircrews involved in the large formation mission.

A number of support agencies were also involved in the operation, proving the success of cooperation and total force readiness at Little Rock AFB.

“The premise behind the operation was to exercise large formation procedures with an airdrop to an unfamiliar drop zone,” said Chief Master Sgt. Donald Tarrance, 327th AS, superintendent.

Water barrel container delivery system (CDS) bundles were dropped during the training sortie near an airfield in Hope, Arkansas. CDS bundles are used to during training to enhance skills used during humanitarian and combat missions.

Building on the total force program, Tarrance said, “Every effort was made to include as many of the Little Rock AFB support agencies as possible in the planning and execution phases.”

The large formation consisted of aircraft and aircrews from the 19th Airlift Wing, the 314th Airlift Wing, the 189th Air National Guard and the 913th Airlift group.

913th Airlift Group Aircrews:

Aircrew #1: Maj. Pete Hughes, 1st Lt. Ryan Christopherson, Master Sgt. Owen T. Duke, Jr., and Senior Airman Dustin Lenard

Aircrew #2: Maj. William Rodriguez, Maj. Grayson Hughes, Chief Master Sgt. Donald Tarrance and Tech Sgt. Matthew Masterson

Aircrew #3: Lt. Col. Christopher Dickens, Capt. Benjamin Buchanan, Tech Sgt. Derek Johnson and Staff Sgt. Anthony Miller