Let's do the airplane shuffle!

It looks like the long, convoluted saga of the US armed forces' C-27J Spartan airlifters has finally been resolved.

It began in 2005 when the US Army, dissatisfied with the tactical airlift service it was getting from the US Air Force in Iraq and Afghanistan, decided to replace its worn-out C-23 Sherpa transports with more modern, more capable aircraft.  If it couldn't get the USAF to fly its people and cargoes when and where it needed them, it would do so itself.

US Army C-23 Sherpa (image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

Needless to say, the USAF was not happy about this.  The latter service fiercely guards its prerogative of operating fixed-wing aircraft, and only allows exceptions when it can't stop them.  Nevertheless, after a long-drawn-out political fight between the services, the US Army announced it would buy several dozen C-27J's to replace its C-23's and, in due course, other smaller transports.

C-27J Spartan (image courtesy of Wikipedia)

The USAF also agreed to buy the aircraft for its Special Operations Command and Air National Guard squadrons.  However, the USAF was still intriguing to force the Army to hand over its C-27J's - and its fixed-wing tactical transport mission - to the former service.  It eventually succeeded, through bureaucratic and political machinations that are so convoluted we'll probably never know everything that went on behind the scenes.  In 2009 it was decreed that the Army would hand over all its C-27J's to the USAF, and that the initial order would be reduced to 38 aircraft.

In 2012 the USAF announced it wanted to withdraw the C-27J from service altogether.  The Department of Defense rationalized the decision thus:

The  C-27J  was developed and procured to provide a niche capability to directly support Army urgent needs in difficult environments such as Afghanistan where we thought the C-130 might not be able to operate effectively. However, in practice, we did not experience the anticipated airfield constraints for C-130 operations in Afghanistan and expect these constraints to be marginal in future scenarios. Since we have ample inventory of C-130s and the current cost to own and operate them is lower, we no longer need – nor can we afford – a niche capability like the C-27J aircraft.

There's more at the link.

The Army was anything but convinced, and protested vigorously, as did a number of politicians;  but in an era of shrinking budgets and hard choices, the USAF was able to make its wishes stick.  The initial contract was reduced to 21 aircraft.  Brand-new C-27J's were put straight into storage as they were delivered, and those already in service were scheduled to join them there.  Applications were invited from other US government agencies that might wish to use them.  Three agencies or departments in particular wanted them.

• The US Special Operations Command asked for eight C-27J's to replace older CASA C-212's at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, where they would be used to train US special forces troops.  It was eventually allocated seven C-27J's, which are in the process of being delivered.
• The US Forest Service asked for the remaining 14 aircraft, to convert them into aerial fire-fighting planes.
• The US Coast Guard asked for the remaining aircraft as well, for conversion into medium-range patrol and search-and-rescue planes.  This would allow it to cancel the purchase of additional HC-144's and save up to a billion dollars that could be better used to cover operational expenses.

It was announced today that the Coast Guard will get the remaining 14 C-27J's, on condition that it hands over seven C-130 Hercules transports to the US Air Force.  The latter service will recondition and reconfigure them into aerial fire-fighting tanker planes for the US Forest Service.

This makes a lot of sense.  The C-27J uses the same engines and avionics as the C-130J Super Hercules, of which the Coast Guard already operates a few, and is expected to buy more over time.  The use of common engines and avionics will save on operating expenses.  The new planes can be reconfigured for search and rescue much more cost-effectively than buying new aircraft for the purpose (including fitting a large fuel tank in the cargo bay for extended range).  On the other hand, the Forest Service will find the bigger payload capacity of the C-130 of greater value in a tanker aircraft than the smaller C-27J.  I presume the Coast Guard will deliver older-model Hercules transports for that purpose, keeping the newer C-130J's due to their commonality with the C-27J's.

By the end of the year, the transfer of these aircraft between three different services should be complete.  It's been a long and winding road . . . all at taxpayer expense, of course;  but then, fiscal responsibility is something at which our armed forces have never excelled.

Peter

Refugees: the triumph of desperation

I was moved to read an account of refugees trying to reach Australia aboard a rickety fishing-boat from Indonesia. The author, a reporter, goes into great detail about the motivation of the refugees, and how they're willing to grasp at almost any straw for the chance of a better life somewhere else. Even official pronouncements that they will never be allowed to resettle in Australia don't deter them, because they don't believe them. They dare not believe them, because if they did, they would no longer have any hope.

Americans, and most people in the First World, can't understand that sort of desperation.  I can. I've seen it all too often in Africa. Things can be so bad, so impoverished, so utterly hopeless, that flight or suicide are the only alternatives many people can see. They'll choose the first if they can . . . the second if it's the only other option. Continuing to live under the circumstances surrounding them is not something they're prepared to do. To illustrate, let me tell you just one man's story from my experience.

Omar was born in Ethiopia, and conscripted at the age of 15 into that country's army. He was sent to fight in Somalia by the Derg administration, which supported anti-government factions there, and was taken prisoner by Siad Barre government forces. He was brutally tortured, including being anally raped with a heated poker that left permanent scarring far up inside his lower digestive tract, then confined as a slave laborer for several years. During that time he married a female slave, and they had two children.

Somalia slowly collapsed into chaos and anarchy.  Being a (relatively) trained soldier, Omar was forcibly conscripted into three different militias. The first took him from his slave prison, separating him from his wife and children, whom he never saw again and never learned what happened to them. Twice in the next few years he was wounded and captured, then given a choice:  fight for his captors, or be shot.  Needless to say, he changed sides each time.

Omar finally managed to make his escape from Somalia, stealing enough gold and dollars from a trader to bribe his way north back to Ethiopia; but he found that his entire birth family had perished in the great famine of 1983-85. Their land had been expropriated for non-payment of taxes, and their animals and possessions were long gone. In desperation, he made his way to Eritrea by hitching rides on vehicles, stealing enough food to keep body and soul together, and taking whatever odd jobs were to be had. His most prized possessions were a folding-stock AKMS carbine that he'd acquired in Somalia, and its well-honed bayonet, sharpened so often on rocks and stones that more than half the width of its blade was worn away. (I asked him once how many men he'd killed with rifle and knife. Gesturing with the AKMS, he answered shortly, "About twenty", and then, with the knife, "Too many to count.")

I met him in Massawa, where he was working as an odd-job dock laborer, looking for a ship on which he could stow away to get to Egypt. (He planned to trade his rifle for passage if he had to - but not his bayonet.) From Egypt he planned to try to cross to Italy and enter the European Union. His reason? Local doctors and hospitals could do nothing for his long-standing internal injuries, which were slowly but surely getting worse, and would kill him within three to five years through adhesions in his lower digestive tract unless they were treated. He had heard that if you got to the EU, medical treatment was free.

That's just one example of refugee desperation from my experience.  I could have selected many others.  It's a state of mind that few people in the West understand, or with which they can empathize. To that end, I highly recommend reading the linked report. It's well worth your time to understand how bad some parts of the world really are - so bad that people will risk imprisonment or even death to get away.

Peter

Lessons learned from the Colorado floods

Readers will recall the floods in Colorado last month (which aren't over yet).  Now a very interesting article at SurvivalBlog provides a series of 'lessons learned' posts from a reader who was caught up in them.  Here's an excerpt.

After several days of unusual rains, the situation was described as a 500 year flood event.    On Sept 11 I was having barbeque with a friend, and it started raining.   No big deal.  On Sept 12, I could not get to work, because of road flooding, the power was out, and I was prepared with radio, walkie talkies, electricity and food.  I thought we'd down for a couple days, or maybe a week.  On Friday, Sept 13, it became clear that we were cut off from the larger world, and that something extraordinary was occurring.  I was well prepared for the wildfires that come here, but not a flood. I always thought that the road system would exist - and that was the biggest gap in my planning!

. . .

Even if the main road is open after weeks or months, my house in town on a minor dirt road was across a bridge. Bridges belong to the  town, as does the water system. Rebuilding Jamestown may occur at the earliest [in] a year, or not at all, depending on FEMA. Given the damage in Lyons, Longmont and Boulder ... well, Jamestown, with 300 people doesn't take  priority ... Getting things out must be done on foot, over a makeshift bridge and ford with backpacks - even a wheelbarrow or wagon isn't possible, and I'm hiring some younger friends that meet the inflexible Sheriff's requirement of having a Jamestown drivers license. I am concerned about squatters and looters, but  the area's secure for a week or so.

There is no vehicle access to the town. Jamestown may not be rebuilt - we've all heard of a ghost town.

Some great  learning opportunities! Did I mention that FEMA forms are full of  questions that you need legal papers to answer? Did I mention that Hospice Thrift Shop is the best in Boulder? Did I mention that learning to live without my own car is a challenge?

There's much more at the link.  Very interesting reading, and highly recommended.

Peter