SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. – Air Mobility Command Airmen and C-5 Galaxies are on the cusp of completing one of the largest rotations of helicopters into and out of Afghanistan in Air Force history, according to AMC officials.

The massive effort called for the rotation of more than 170 helicopters — approximately 100 inbound to Operation Enduring Freedom and another 70 back to the U.S. — over the course of the past four weeks. The effort is part of the on-going rotation of troops and equipment into Afghanistan to support OEF requirements.

The forces rotating into Afghanistan are from the U.S. Army’s 159th Combat Aviation Brigade, from Fort Campbell, Ky., who will be assuming responsibility from their sister-brigade, the 101st CAB. Airmen from the 436th Airlift Wing at Dover Air Force Base, Del., have been flying four C-5 aircraft almost non-stop since early February to support the phased movement of helicopters and their associated equipment for the operation.

“The most difficult part of this is synchronizing the aircraft flow,” said Army Maj. Jason Kahn, the 159th CAB’s support operations officer, in an Army release. “As [the 101st CAB] is pulling their aircraft out of the fight, we have to be able to inject ours, and that means we have to move the right mix of personnel for build teams into Afghanistan in conjunction with the airframes.”

The coordination for that right mix of equipment and helicopters started months ago at U.S. Transportation Command, located at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., and it’s components from AMC, the Army’s Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, and the Navy’s Military Sealift Command.

Officials from these organizations arranged for a multi-modal movement of the helicopters, meaning that the aircraft and associated equipment were moved from Kentucky to a seaport on the east coast of the U.S., taken by ship for the majority of the trip around the world — in this case to Western Europe — and then airlifted the last portion of their journey into land-locked Afghanistan by Air Force C-5s.

“This multi-modal approach helps us strike a balance of effectiveness and efficiency,” said Maj. Anthony Calabrese, an airlift pilot and one of the logistic planners for the operation in U.S. Transportation Command’s Fusion Center. “By shipping the helicopters to Western Europe, the distance our C-5s needed to fly was cut down significantly. As a result, we could execute the operation with fewer aircraft, freeing up the rest of the mobility fleet to meet other needs throughout Iraq and Afghanistan. We also saved on overall fuel costs when compared to flying the missions from the U.S., while meeting the need for a phased approach required by the Army forces on the ground.”

All of the airlift missions for the rotation were planned, tasked and command-and-controlled by the Tanker Airlift Control Center at Scott Air Force Base, Ill. As AMC and Eighteenth Air Force’s hub for global operations, the TACC plans, schedules and directs a fleet of up to nearly 1,300 mobility aircraft in support of strategic airlift, air refueling, and aeromedical evacuation operations around the world.

The TACC has been the lead for centralized control of AMC airlift, air refueling and aeromedical evacuation operations worldwide since its activation April 1, 1992. That coordination in recent years has included hundreds of thousands of point-to-point flights, called sorties, in support of overseas operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In fact, AMC aircrews flying TACC-managed missions flew more than 123 thousand sorties in 2010 alone, which includes transportation of more than 2 million passengers and 830 thousand tons of cargo in support of global operations.

“As an airlift mission planner, this is an ideal situation,” said Maj. Tom Bulthaus, one of the lead airlift planners for the swapout. “We were able to dedicate four C-5s, two older models and two of the new M-models, to the movement and they have been running shuttles into Afghanistan for over a month. In fact, in an effort to keep the aircraft moving, part of our plan has been for one aircrew to fly the plane into Afghanistan from Europe, and then another crew takes over in Afghanistan for the trip back out. This way, we’ve been able to keep the aircraft continuously moving equipment and cargo for the exception of scheduled down time for maintenance inspections and repairs.”

Another consideration for airlift planners has been when and where to stop for fuel, an area where the newest C-5M aircraft has an advantage, according to officials. While the older C-5Bs dedicated for the operation generally required an additional fuel stop in Iraq on the way back to Europe, the C-5M was able make it all the way back in one flight, saving time and coordination with forces on the ground at the stopover location.

The final preparation for these missions, along with any other operational airlift or air refueling missions operated by AMC aircraft, started with the TACC’s flight managers, according to officials. The FMs acted as a virtual crewmember on the missions, assembling information ranging from weather forecasts and flight routing, to diplomatic clearances and reservations to land at downrange airfields in Afghanistan for the C-5 crews.

“By the time the aircrew showed up to the C-5s, our goal was to have as much prep work done for them as possible,” said Mr. Joe Jackson, an FM supervisor at the TACC. “And that applies across the board for all of the other missions we command-and-control at from the TACC, as well. In any given day, each FM is coordinating 8-10 different sorties and making sure that the prep work for the aircrew is finished, so that crew can focus on flying the mission. It’s all about getting the troops and cargo — in this case helicopters — downrange so they can make an impact on the fight.”

Photo: Soldiers spot a UH-60L Blackhawk while it is being loaded onto a C-5 Galaxy, Mar. 2, 2011, at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan. The Blackhawk upload was part of a change out; the old helicopters are being replaced by new airframes. The soldiers are assigned to the 563rd Aviation Support Battalion out of Fort Campbell, Ky.