2008: A year in review of success Published Jan. 8, 2009 By Airman First Class Patrick Cabellon 446th Airlift Wing Public Affairs MCCHORD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- The 446th Airlift Wing's past year has been filled with hard work and many accomplishments. Airmen from every career field went above and beyond the call of duty to ensure every task was handled and completed at 110 percent. The flying squadrons kicked off 2008 with international media coverage by answering the call for help from a stranded fishing trawler in Antarctica. The Argos Georgia, a British fishing trawler, lost all main power Dec. 24 and was frozen in the ice flow off the Ross Ice Shelf of Antarctica. A C-17 flown mostly by 446th AW Airmen airdropped a new engine and supplies to the stranded ship Jan. 5. The Argos Georgia crew were able to fix the trawler and continue on with their mission. The month of February took more than 150 McChord Reservists from eight units to three different islands in Hawaii to support the Department of Defense exercise Pacific Lifeline. The exercise was designed to test the Air Force's ability to respond to a humanitarian assistance or disaster response scenario anywhere in the Pacific. In April, a total force aircrew from McChord made history during the last Operation Deep Freeze mission of the 2007-2008 season. The mid-April flight is the closest to winter a Deep Freeze crew has ever landed in Antarctica. The research team retrieved from the ice were studying light-driven life in Antarctica's permanently frozen lakes. This required them to push their field time as close to winter as possible in order to have the proper conditions for their experiments. The 446th Airlift Wing took part in another large-scale medical exercise May 5 and 6. Ultimate Caduceus was one of nine simultaneous exercises taking place across the nation to test how civilians respond to a mass casualty incident. Over two days, 446th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron Reservists placed and off-loaded 152 simulated patients from a C-130 flown by the Minnesota Air National Guard's 133rd Airlift Wing. The Reservists also assisted the Army in an engine running off load of 16 patients from two UH-60 Black Hawks. In June, the wing celebrated the 50th anniversary of the 446th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron and noted the squadron's historical accomplishments dating back to when it was the 40th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron from 1958-1996. The McChord Air Expo 2008 held July 19 and 20 doubled previous expo figures and set a new attendance record for the base. After the turnstile numbers were tallied, more than 375,000 community members passed through the gates to learn more about the 446th Airlift Wing's critical role in McChord's mission and the Air Force Reserve. Not only did the wing put a C-17 and its aircrews on display, but we also showcased several squadrons and flights as well as their equipment giving the public and in-depth look at what we do daily. September brought about warm feelings of the heart as Reservists from the 446th Airlift Wing delivered hope, in the form of a bright yellow fire truck, and medical supplies to a village in the central Mexican state of Jalisco. The donated cargo was flown Sept. 19 by a crew of two pilots and three loadmasters from the 728th Airlift Squadron as part of the Denton Amendment program, which allows free transport of non-government relief supplies earmarked for humanitarian assistance. However, the mission wouldn't have moved at all if it weren't for the yearlong behind-the-scenes efforts of the 446th Operations Support Flight, which helped coordinate the operation. In October, the 446th Maintenance Group deployed more than 30 Airmen to support Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom. The versatile maintainers were assigned everything from transient alert and flightline maintenance, to controlling and servicing more than 150-plus fixed wing and rotary flights per day. In November, 26 Reservists from the 446th Airlift Control Flight and 86th Aerial Port Squadron partnered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency members from Washington Urban Search & Rescue Task Force One in a joint training exercise. The last time the agencies worked together was in 2001 in response to the attacks on the World Trade Center. We wrapped up the year 2008 with yet more deployments - about 180 Reservists from the wing started deploying to various locations in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Deployments, and operational readiness inspection, Air Mobility Command's Rodeo, and much more are on the horizon for the 446th AW we enter 2009.