Double Deuce…Brings It to the Show Published July 8, 2011 By Lt. Col. Zach Zeiner 22nd Airlift Squadron commander TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE,Calif. -- As the throttles are advanced to take-off power, the engines of the C-5B Galaxy scream, propelling the aircraft down the runway. At 769,000 pounds, there is little room for error as the strategic airlifter takes flight, headed to a remote airfield in Afghanistan. Aircrews from the 22nd Airlift Squadron, known throughout the airlift community as the Fightin' Double Deuce, recently deployed as a dedicated airlift package to locations in Europe and Southwest Asia supporting intermodal deployment and redeployment operations. This intermodal operation was a joint effort involving the Army, Navy and Air Force. The operation encompassed the delivery of deploying assets from an Army Air Cavalry Brigade and redeploying assets from a Combat Aviation Brigade, who just completed a one-year deployment. The operation is designed to capitalize on efficiencies between surface transportion, sealift and airlift. In today's fiscally constrained environment, it is imperative we look to smarter and more efficient means to move our forces and their equipment. Logistics, the movement of our nation's treasure, is quite simply challenging. In the words of Gen. Archibald Wavell, "The more I see of war, the more I realize how it all depends on administration and transportation. It takes little skill or imagination to see where you would like your army to be and when. It takes much more knowledge and hard work to know where you can place your forces and whether you can maintain them there." The intermodal concept uses various modes of transportation to produce a more cost-effective solution to sustain large equipment and personnel movements. This particular intermodal movement delivered helicopters via sealift to an intermediate stop, then trans-loaded the helicopters onto C-5s for delivery via airlift to the final destinations in Southwest Asia. Elements from multiple agencies across the 60th Air Mobility Wing deployed in support of this effort. Members from the 60th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron deployed to Southwest Asia to facilitate working en-route maintenance issues as the C-5s cycled down range. Intelligence troops from the 60th Operations Support Squadron deployed to support intelligence requirements and ensure aircrews were armed with up-to-date and accurate information. The 22nd AS deployed aircrews totaling more than 60 crewmembers and small leadership packages. The C-5 aircrews from the 22nd AS safely delivered more than 80 helicopters, moved more than 3 million pounds of cargo, airlifted more than 70 passengers and with excellent maintenance support, executed the mission with an amazing 95.3 percent Maintenance Departure Reliability Rate. Multiple units and agencies came together to make this one of the most successful multimodal movements to date and saved the Department of Defense over $50 million in transportation expenses. This multimodal operation was truly an example of the "One Team, One Fight" concept.