The Mobility Forum Posts

As Air Mobility Command’s (AMC) sole numbered Air Force, the 18th Air Force ensures the readiness and sustainment of approximately 36,000 Active Duty, Reserve, and civilian Airmen. This readiness includes preparation for tomorrow’s fight, in which tactics are quickly evolving.

In today’s booming housing market across the United States, homebuyers often have only a day or sometimes only hours to decide on whether or not to make an offer and contract on their new home. Under normal housing market conditions, buyers would be afforded the opportunity to collect and analyze the data, make comparisons between other homes in the area, research the school districts for their kids, and put in a bid lower than the asking price with one or two more competitive buyers. Unfortunately, buyers are not afforded those opportunities in today’s market for various reasons, including tightened homebuilder inventories, commodity prices, and the Federal Reserve’s easy monetary policy. As a result, buyers will inevitably tend to make rushed decisions, leading to potentially overspending on their budget, settling with a less-than-desired home, and forgetting other vital considerations. Most of us do not make good decisions under time pressure, and the same type of situation can happen in the aviation world.

Do the stabilized approach criteria directed in the Air Mobility Command (AMC) Supplement to Air Force Manual 11-202, Volume 3, significantly influence go-around rates? Analysis shows that, although the approach counts may vary significantly by Aircraft Mission-Design Series, overall percentage rates for go-arounds per unstable approach are very similar for all USAF Mobility Air Forces (MAF) airplanes.

Sometimes it takes a tragedy for positive changes to occur. Mr. Kevin Sluss, Acting Division Chief of Flight Safety for Air Mobility Command, was an Air Force C-130 Navigator in 1989. He provided testimony to this concept as he described his experience surviving a Class A mishap that prompted a procedure change in an emergency situation for airdrop crews.

In August 2021, a passenger-manifest conflict occurred. An Airman, trying to get home, jumped on an available flight without the required paperwork. In this day and age, overlooking this regulation can result in serious risk to crews. This incident is a lesson in how to prevent a potentially dangerous situation because not everyone may be who they claim to be.

Anyone who has been to the Airlift/Tanker Association Convention in recent years knows that the annual Air Mobility Command (AMC) Phoenix Spark Tank is a major event. Each year, entries flood in for the highly competitive, command-wide innovation challenge for a chance to pitch creative ideas to a panel of judges. These ideas cover a variety of resourceful projects that save time and resources or prevent injuries.

Defined as any activity that draws a driver’s attention away from safely steering a vehicle, distracted driving is deadly. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), distracted driving caused more than 26,000 deaths between 2012 and 2019.

In 1989, KLM Flight 867, a Boeing 747 jumbo jet, took off from Anchorage, AK, enroute to Narita, Japan. During the climb out, it encountered a cloud of volcanic ash from the active eruptions of Mount Redoubt along Alaska’s Cook Inlet. Shortly after passing flight level (FL) 250, all four engines shut down. The crew attempted several restarts and were able to light engines 1 and 2 descending through FL130 and the remaining two at FL110.

The 53rd annual Airlift/Tanker Association (A/TA) Convention Symposium and Technical Exposition was held October 28-31, 2021, in Orlando, FL. This year’s theme was “Leveraging Our Legacy to Aggressively Forge Our Future.” The main topic of conversation for the mobility Airmen in attendance, however, was Operation Allies Refuge (OAR), which was Air Mobility Command’s (AMC) recent record-breaking airlift out of the Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan.

After spending time with our friends and families this past Labor Day weekend, autumn and winter are upon us as the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting cooler. This change of season also marks the conclusion of the Critical Days of Summer (CDS) safety awareness campaign. The purpose of the CDS campaign was to encourage everyone to enjoy those warm summer days safely.

FY21 Aviation Mishaps Aircraft Class A Class B Total as of October 2021 C-5M 0 0 0 C-17A 3 2 5 C-130 0 0 0…

Imagine landing in an austere location—no structures or people in sight. All that keeps you company in this barren stretch of land is clear blue skies, sandy soil, and your crew. In a fraction of the time normally associated with creating aircraft support areas, the Agile Combat Employment (ACE) team creates airfield infrastructure capable of supporting deployed operations.