Public Affairs, Volume 64, Number 1
Jan. 6, 2017
Safety emphasized as Edwards gets ‘back in the saddle’
2016 was another busy year for the 412th Test Wing and wing leadership wants the Edwards workforce to keep safety a priority when working in 2017. (U.S. Air Force photo by J.M. Eddins Jr.)
By Kenji Thuloweit 412th Test Wing Public Affairs
Everything from aircraft in-flight emergencies to personnel suffering sports injuries were examined at the base theater during the 412th Test Wing’s annual Back in the Saddle event Jan. 3. An audience made up mostly of flyers, engineers, maintainers and airfield operations personnel were urged to continue to focus on safety, teamwork and mishap prevention as the wing
enters another busy year of flight test operations. Back in the Saddle combines mishap reviews from fiscal year 2016 with informational briefings for the workforce. Throughout the four-hour morning briefing, personnel had the opportunity to hear about lessons learned in 2016 both at Edwards and throughout the Air Force. The annual briefing is designed to help the base workforce shift their focus back to safely and effectively accomplishing the mission following the holidays. “Safety is everyone’s program, every single person sitting in this room, from the Airmen to the general, that is the safety program,” said Lt. Col. James Spencer, 412th TW Safety Office chief. The past year was generally very safe for the 412th Test Wing. There were no major mishaps involving lost aircraft and there were no on-duty fatalities or military off-duty fatalities. Across the Air Force, nine aircraft were lost and there were 16 aviation-related fatalities. There were also 35 off-duty fatalities involving Airmen; most were vehicle accidents. Spencer and Lawrence Kennedy, 412th TW Safety Occupational Safety chief, noted that there were a number of minor mishaps on base, which resulted in damaged property requiring repair or replacement, and injuries that resulted in lost work days. Slips and falls, workers sustaining injuries while working on planes, were examples of work-related mishaps for both Airmen and civilian workers. Sports injuries during physical training or during off-base activities also led to lost See Saddle, page 2
AMC Museum rescues historic airlifter from Korean War
By Senior Airman Zachary Cacicia 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
A true piece of American history that has sat in the Mojave Desert for decades and was slated to be turned into scrap metal will now have a new home at the Air Mobility Command Museum. A C-5M Super Galaxy, operated by the 709th Airlift Squadron, and an AMC Museum team traveled to Edwards Air Force Base, California, Dec. 16-19, 2016, to transport portions of the Fairchild C-119B Flying Boxcar #48-0352 “Am Can Co Special” to the AMC Museum at Dover AFB, Delaware, for restoration and display. The C-119 was a military transport aircraft used primarily to carry cargo, personnel and equipment. It also had airdrop capabilities. The U.S. flew them from 1947 to 1974. According to John Taylor, AMC Museum director, when this C-119 arrives at the museum, it will be arguably the most historic aircraft in its collection. “It’s the second-oldest C-119 in existence,” said Taylor, “and the only surviving aircraft from the operation that airdropped mobile bridge sections to Marines during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir.”
One of the twin tail sections from a disassembled C-119B “Flying Boxcar” is positioned for loading onto a C-5 Galaxy from Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, on the flightline of Edwards Air Force Base, California, Dec. 19. The C-5 was loaded with the majority of the disassembled aircraft for transportation to the Air Mobility Command Museum at Dover AFB. This airplane, tail number 48-0352, was one of several that played a direct role in the Battle of Chosin Reservoir in the Korean War in 1950. It will eventually be restored to its Korean War-era configuration and displayed at the AMC Museum. (U.S. Air Force photo by Christopher Ball)
See Boxcar, page 3