By Aviation Editor Doug Maclean
Back on 20th August, Ayrshire Daily News reported on the unusual deployment of four Kentucky Air National Guard C-130J Super Hercules aircraft operating from Prestwick Airport.
Rather than the normal brief Prestwick fuel stop on their way across the Atlantic, the four American aircraft were based at Prestwick and were clearly involved in a much larger operation.
We had a video of the unusual sight of the Kentucky Hercules flying alongside a Royal Canadian Air Force C-130J.
We also knew that Royal Navy helicopters were involved and that activity was taking place over the Firth of Clyde.
What wasn't known at the time was the full scale of what was going on.
Now the Kentucky Air National Guard has released a detailed account of the deployment — and it reveals that Prestwick was at the centre of an impressive multinational training operation involving American, British and Canadian forces.
The four C-130J Super Hercules aircraft deployed to Prestwick between August 14 and 22, bringing 60 personnel and an impressive 62,000 pounds of equipment with them.
During those eight days the Americans conducted dozens of training events involving specialised refuelling, low-level formation flying, rapid-reaction aircraft launches and maritime personnel and equipment drops.
Lieutenant colonel Nick Reinke, mission commander and a C-130 pilot with the 165th Airlift Squadron, explained:
“The deployment was designed to accomplish a large amount of C-130J continuation and tactical training while taking advantage of an unfamiliar overseas operating environment and opportunities to work directly with Allied partners.”
And Prestwick provided exactly that unfamiliar environment.
The crews suddenly had different airspace, different air traffic control procedures, different airfields, different support organisations and, of course, some very Scottish weather to contend with.
That was precisely the point.
Lt Col Reinke explained that operating globally means considerably more than simply having an aircraft capable of crossing the Atlantic. Crews have to arrive with the personnel and equipment necessary to operate, understand unfamiliar systems, integrate with allied forces and adapt when weather or circumstances change the plan.
Five Hercules together over Scotland.
One of the highlights ADN reported from the operation was the impressive sight of five C-130J Hercules flying together.
We now know this was one of the deployment's key training events.
The four Kentucky aircraft were joined by a Royal Canadian Air Force C-130J for a five-ship formation flight.
For anyone lucky enough to see them, five Hercules operating together over Scotland was certainly not an everyday sight.
There was also some very interesting activity taking place on the ground at Prestwick.
Working with Prestwick airport support organisations, the Kentucky crews carried out specialised “hot” refuelling operations, with a C-130J being refuelled while its engines continued running.
But perhaps the most demanding part of the exercise took place away from Prestwick over the water.
Rescue operation in the Firth of Clyde.
We previously reported that some of the activity involved the Royal Navy and operations over the Firth of Clyde.
We can now fill in much more of that story.
The Kentucky crews worked with the Royal Navy's 814 Squadron in an exceptionally realistic open-ocean rescue exercise.
A C-130J crew first had to locate a stranded airman floating in a life raft, miles from shore.
Once the casualty had been located, somewhere in a big cold sea, loadmasters aboard the Hercules dropped an inflatable motorboat close to the raft.
Three Special Tactics Airmen then parachuted into the cold water, deployed the boat and provided first aid.
And a photograph released by the Kentucky Air National Guard provides a rather unmistakable clue as to exactly where this part of the exercise was taking place.
Rising out of the Firth of Clyde in the background is the familiar outline of Ailsa Craig. That puts a very local backdrop to what was a highly specialised international military rescue exercise.
The operation wasn't finished there.
The American team then coordinated with a Royal Navy Merlin helicopter from 814 Squadron, which carried out the final hoist and recovery while the C-130J remained overhead providing overwatch.
Reinke described the Royal Navy involvement as one of the highlights of the entire deployment.
It brought together fixed-wing airdrop, maritime rescue, helicopter recovery and airborne command and control in a single operation involving two NATO countries.
And there were some unexpected lessons.
One of the American pararescue team pointed out that Scotland provided very different conditions from those normally encountered during training back home.
“It’s a lot colder here, and the salt water is an unusual factor for us. The Royal Navy also uses different geolocation methods, and they have different tactics and techniques than we typically employ.”
Another unexpected difference was that the huge Royal Navy Merlin produces considerably more rotor wash than the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters with which the Americans normally work. The Merlin is almost one third heavier than the Black Hawk.
It may sound like a relatively small detail, but for someone in the sea beneath a hovering helicopter it is anything but small.
The teams therefore had to adapt their techniques on the spot.
Royal Navy Captain James Hall said exercises of this type allowed Merlin crews to practise important search-and-rescue capabilities outside their normal anti-submarine warfare role while improving interoperability with their American counterparts.
“Exercises such as this, conducted alongside our United States Air Force partners, enable our crews to maintain and enhance critical search and rescue skills while strengthening the interoperability that underpins NATO’s collective security,” he said.
Why Prestwick?
For those of us who have watched Prestwick for many years, there is another interesting aspect to this deployment. Prestwick's American military visitors regularly appear for only a few hours — stopping for fuel and crew rest on their way across the Atlantic.
This was very different.
For eight days Prestwick became an operating base from which four American C-130Js, their crews and support personnel could conduct complex training alongside British and Canadian forces.
The Americans deliberately wanted somewhere away from their familiar home environment where crews would have to deal with different procedures, organisations, weather and operating practices.
Prestwick gave them exactly that.
Our previous story showed Ayrshire Daily News readers that something considerably more substantial than a normal transatlantic military stopover was taking place.
We could see the aircraft. We could follow some of their unusual flying. And we knew that American, British and Canadian military units were working together.
What we couldn't see was everything that was happening behind the scenes.
Now we can.
Four Kentucky C-130Js, a Canadian Hercules, Royal Navy Merlin helicopters, American Special Tactics personnel, parachute drops into the Firth of Clyde, maritime rescue exercises, five-aircraft formation flying and specialised refuelling operations were all brought together during eight very busy days based at Glasgow Prestwick Airport.
What looked interesting from the ground in Ayrshire back in August turns out to have been considerably more interesting than we realised.
Yet another fascinating chapter in Prestwick's long association with military aviation.
U.S. Air National Guard photos by Dale Greer and Phil Speck