C-130J off to war, opens new Air Force chapter

Regular duty to put new cargo plane to test

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Capt. Ben Robins raised his hands in the air and cheered from his perch on a concrete barrier near the edge of the Little Rock Air Force Base flight line Monday as he watched the C-130J slowly roll toward the runway.

C-130 Js go to war

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Shortly before 6 p.m., as the evening sun set the sky ablaze with streaks of pink and orange, Lt. Col. Dan Tulley, 41st Airlift Squadron commander, coaxed Tail No. 3145 airborne, the first C-130J cargo plane in the active Air Force to deploy to war.

This moment was nine months in the making - the hardest of Robins' life with possibly the exception, he noted, of the eight sleepless months after his son was born. Since the 41st opened for business in April, Robins - the squadron readiness and mobility officer - has juggled the paperwork necessary to send the base's newest squadron and the Air Force's newest cargo planes to war.

"We are throwing the newest airframe full time into the desert," said Col. Jeff Hoffer, 463rd Airlift Group commander. "And our guys are excited about it."

For more information see today's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

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