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File: aabqn_08.txt
compatible with later AFRES H-models. Personnel in the Weapons System
Division at Fourteenth Air Force worked with maintenance personnel in the
94th and 908th and decided to swap out the two late H-models with the
908 TAG so that all aircraft in the deployment package would be
compatible. Headquarters Military Airlift Command (HQ MAC) assisted by
waiving all inspections on the C-130 aircraft to be deployed.9
Another problem concerned whether C-1 30s modified with the Self-
Contained Navigation System (SCNS) and the Defensive Equipment Group
(DEG) should deploy. Based upon inputs from Fourteenth Air Force
Weapons Systems Division, the AFRES Vice Commander, Major General
Alan G. Sharp, decided that aircraft with those modifications would not
deploy because of a lack of test equipment, limited system maintenance
capability and limited availability of qualified SCNS aircrews. Wing aircrews
were not happy with that decision; most felt that if a shooting war
developed, they wanted the best available aircraft in which to fly their
missions. Since they had flown the SCNS C-1 30s for more than a year with
no problems, the crews felt that they were by far the best aircraft.10
On 17 August, one week after the initial notification, some 400
volunteers, and 16 aircraft (4 from Dobbins, 3 from Maxwell, 3 from
Pittsburgh, 3 from Chicago, and 3 from Milwaukee), along with essential
equipment and supplies, departed from their home stations en route to the
Persian Gulf, the exact destination still unknown. The aircraft were
crammed full of supplies and most aircraft flew at maximum weight, with
several exceeding it.,'
The first stop on the journey to the Persian Gulf was for refueling at
Lajes. Several of the aircraft had to be refueled at Westover AFB,
Massachusetts, before proceeding, however, because they were so heavily
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9 Intvw, P.R. Stone and D.G. Lanfear with Col Albert Cameron, 94
TAW/DCM, 29 Jan 91 (hereafter cited as Cameron Intvw).
10. lntvw, P.R. Stone and D.G. Lanfear with Lt Col Ron Peacock, Ops
Officer, 700 TAS, 29 Jan 91 [hereafter cited as Peacock Intvw].
11 Blair Intvw; Intvw, P.R. Stone and D.G. Lanfear with Col P.K. Willis, 700
TAE;/CC, 21 Jan 91 [hereafter cited as Willis Intvw]; Ltr, 94 TAW/DO to 94
TAW/CC, "After Action Report, Desert Shield," 11 Feb 91; JULLS Long Rpt,
94 TAW/DO, 24 Apr 91.
3
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