Afghanistan

No.40Squadron personnel deployed to a Middle East Base on 4 April to undertake Relief in Place (RiP) for the NZDF’s deployment to Bamyan, Afghanistan. The deployment phase ran very smoothly and this proved to be the theme for the whole mission.

FLTLT J. Anderson and his crew successfully completed seven missions into the Afghanistan primary area of operations. All of the mission objectives were completed on schedule and credit should be given to the crew and all the support elements that enabled this to happen. Particular mention must be made of the maintenance team led by SQNLDR W. Morris and F/S K. Williams, who ensured that the aircraft was serviceable for all missions even after suffering from the rugged surface conditions which prevail at Bamyan.

The missions were primarily for the RiP of the Bamyan deployment. However, the crew also flew two sorties which included the carriage of the Rt. Hon Phil Goff and CDF into Kabul and Bamyan.

Following the final mission on ANZAC day the aircrew were able to relax a little, but for the maintenance team the tempo increased.

The spare engine which had been in storage at the Base for over two years was required to be returned to New Zealand. With tight payloads for transit legs, there was no possibility of carrying a spare engine from New Zealand on the C-130, to replace the engine at the Base. To transport an engine to and from the Base via commercial methods would have cost over $NZD100, 000. Instead of this costly undertaking it was decided that the stored engine at the base would be fitted onto NZ7001 replacing the number one engine, which would in turn be inhibited and stored for future operations in the region.

The engine change was undertaken in challenging conditions. This was due to operating in high temperatures, while using unfamiliar lifting equipment, creating unique headaches for the team to resolve.

To mitigate these problems the maintenance team planned a work schedule involving early mornings and late evenings to beat the heat during the day. It was a fine achievement that the engine change was completed on time and without incident. This enabled the aircraft to depart as planned and saved numerous logistical problems which would have resulted if delays had been incurred.

There deployment phase was uneventful which culminated a very successful trip. 40 Squadron would like to thank all personnel who contributed to the successful deployment.