(guitar music) - Welcome to Behind The Wing, the 315th Airlift Wing and Joint Base Charleston's official podcast. I'm your host, Major Wayne Capps, and I'm here in our studio with our news director, Michael Dukes, hey, Michael. - How you doing? - So we've got a different podcast today. - What? - In the past, we normally, Tech Sergeant Bobby Pilch, who's my co-host, we go over a litany of issues and talk to folks about what's going on, well the weather has thrown a kink in our plans. - Just a bit. - Just a bit. (laughter) - We can call it The Big Freeze, something we don't normally get here at Joint Base Charleston. - Yeah, so what that did is that actually put us extremely behind. We had all these great stories lined up for the next couple of months, so we've got to shelve them, so this one'll be Michael and I talking about what's going on here at the Base, and we're gonna be talking about what's going on with the 315th Airlift Wing, some of the missions we're flying, what we've got going on, so we still wanna get this information out, we wanna talk to people about what we have going on, but we're not actually sitting down with the airmen who are doing the mission this time. We're gonna do that in February, so. - Yeah. - It's coming up real soon. - Yeah. - But we're gonna have a little bit of a, an abbreviated podcast, but we'll get you a new one as soon as we can, we promise, because we got a lot of reservists coming in for four days in early February to make up for some of the things that we missed in January. - To make up for the four days they missed because of the snowstorm. - Yeah, absolutely, so.... (Michael laughs) - It really put a damper on everything we were gonna do. We have some great stories, and I'll talk a little bit about them. We've delivered some school buses to Haiti, which was really cool. - Oh, yeah. - Our Tuskeegee Airmen Career Day is coming up. We have an air show on tap, coming up in late spring, early summer. I guess late spring here in Charleston. - Yeah. - it feels like summer for Charleston, but it's a late spring. (Michael laughs) And of course, we will talk about our Big Freeze. So let's get into talking about that, so. - Okay, so we had our super UTA was scheduled for the first part of January. - And for those not familiar with the Reserve-speak, that's our big drill weekend, where all the Reeservists, about 2400 Reservists actually come in and you knock out training that we normally do, and January's our big one. January's the big-time one. We come in and knock out a lot of annual training requirements, so that the rest of the year everybody's focused on their job. - Right, and instead of that, thanks to over five inches of snow and ice here on the base, everybody got an extended New Year's holiday. - (chuckles) Just a little bit, and it's not that often that Joint Base Charleston gets snowed in, but it was amazing. If you look at our Facebook page at 315th Airlift Wing, you can see some of the C-17s with snow all over them. It's something that you don't see every day here in Charleston. - Yeah, absolutely. - It looked like Westover, and I love my folks at Westover, but I don't wanna visit in Massachusetts. Love those folks, but I don't wanna visit in the wintertime. - In fact, last week, when you take the low temperatures, it was the coldest it's been in 150 years in our area, so it truly was a century-type of situation. (laughs) - Yeah, absolutely, and some of the feedback that we heard on the news was that the Air Force owns the runway here, and so the airport was shut down. And a lot of people were pretty upset that the airport was shut down for so long, but you have to understand, the Air Force in Charleston doesn't own that kind of equipment. We don't own de-icers. We don't own snow plows, and think of the cost that it would take to actually maintain all of that equipment for a storm that happens maybe every 10 to 20 years. So it's really not used, and so we caught some heat for that. - Yeah. - And on top of all of that, think about all the environmental impact studies, the runoff for the de-icing material, and all of that that has to go along with that. It's something that Joint Base Charleston was just not ready for because quite frankly, normally there's not a need. - Right, exactly. - So, in the next 20 years, if we have another one, things might change a little bit, but right now, Charleston, South Carolina is just not up for The Big Freeze. I was talking to Trooper Bob, Bob Barris, for the Highway Patrol and he said there were 900 wrecks that weekend. We were talking about the runway, and some of the people were comparing 26 and things like that to a runway, and they said, "Well, if I-26 is open, how come the runway is not?" And I said, "Well, you know, the short answer is you can have 900 wrecks on I-26. - Yeah, one. - But you can't have have one incident on a runway. - Oh, yeah. - So safety was foremost and paramount in that decision to keep the runway closed. So, I'm sure a lot of people can understand, but people that don't understand the aviation industry, some people had some heartburn, and quite frankly I probably would, too, if I was stuck for several days trying to get home. - Yeah, that's pretty much the snow thing. We can talk about our own Captain Justin Clark went down to Haiti with our 317th to deliver three school buses. - Oh, it's amazing. So we have a program called the Denton Program here in Charleston, and it's not just in Charleston, it's all over, and it allows the Air Force to take donated humanitarian gear to countries that need it on a space-available basis, and it's a great program for Reservists, because Reservists can come in on the weekend, and we fly to the same standard as the active duty. - Right. - So that means we've got the same check rights, and currency, and so our guys are only doing it part time. So how do you maximize that? So a lot of times they'll use the Denton Program. They'll fly an off-station training mission over the weekend, realistically, it's the same cost as flying around Charleston, but they're actually, they'll take real cargo to real places that need them, and it's a short flight to Haiti, so we fly Denton-donated cargo to Haiti quite frequently. As a matter of fact, I'm going on a mission. So I'll be flying a humanitarian mission down to Haiti early next month, so hopefully I'll be able to bring back some good sound for you guys, and we're going down there, and we're going to a couple of other places, so just like Justin and some of those folks went down with the 317th, it'll be a chance for them to get their qualifications and training, and also do some pretty good work. - And for anybody who wants more information about this Haiti school bus delivery, on our website, you can find the story, and there's a really awesome photo on there. Two full-size school buses, side by side, parked inside one of our C-17s. Something that, it looks almost impossible, but they get it in there. (laughs) - Yeah, that's great. And one thing that we do annually with the 315th, which I think is a fantastic program. It's called the Tuskegee Airmen Career Day here at Joint Base Charleston. That's gonna be February 27th. That's a great story, Michael. You wanna tell us a little about it? - Yeah, for these types of career days, we bring in local school boys, normally middle school, maybe some ninth graders, and typically, it ends up to be about 100, 150 young men from about what, say 20 schools? - About that, yeah. - (chuckles) yeah. And so they'll have a C-17 that they can go climb onto, they can talk to loadmasters, talk to pilots. Gosh, they can even talk to our Wing Commander in the hangar, see our mini C-17, which is very popular. - Absolutely, and what I like about this Career Day, it's not a recruiting attempt. We wanna push to these schools, "Hey, it's not a recruiting attempt. "That's not what we're here to do. "That's why we're picking them young, "middle school, early high school." We're saying, "Here's what's out there." And realistically, I wish somebody would have done that when I was probably middle or high school, because I didn't know what kind of jobs were out there, and they get to talk to engineers, cops, and not just military-related jobs. We've got some other things out there, and what we're trying to do is get opportunities in front of people who wouldn't see them otherwise. - Right, and enlighten them to the possibilities and to let them know that they can do anything if they put their mind to it. - And tying in with that, we also do a Women in Aviation Career Day annually, too, and I love that, because what we get to do, and I've got a young daughter myself, so I'm gonna bring her out here to one when she gets a little bit older. But what it does, it let these girls know that you can do anything these guys are doing. - Oh, yeah, exactly. - And I love hearing that we've got some pilots who are some of the best pilots we have, and they're females. And they get out there, and they say, "This is what we're doing." - And not just that, but they're moms. - Yes, exactly, you can have your cake and eat it too. You can be a pilot and still be a mom, and all the stuff that you might wanna do. Not only that, we've got mechanics, maintainers out there turning wrenches, some of our superintendents are women. - Yeah. And they're out there, they're in charge of all these guys, and they're busting their chops, - Yeah. (chuckles) - And doing an unbelievable job, and I love for these young girls to see that... - Oh, yeah. - That you don't have to go into stereotypical roles that society says are meant for women. - Right. - You can go into the medical career field. - You can be a police officer. You can be a pilot. You could be a loadmaster, so in military or not, our whole goal is to say, "Hey, these opportunities are out there. - Yep. - So, coming up, I love this big announcement that we've got, it's the Air Show. We haven't had an Air Show in, I believe it's eight years. - 2011, I think? - Something like that, yeah. (Michael laughs) - So, eight years, we're having an Air Show at Joint Base Charleston. The Thunderbirds are gonna be here. - Oh, yeah. - I love watching those Thunderbirds. - Yeah! - And you know, we're having it at Joint Base Charleston. It has a huge economic impact on the Low Country, and when you're counting people that comes into these things, it's only a swag, so I think they said 80,000 people, or that's what they plan for, and they hit a lot more than that, so... - Oh, yeah. - So it was a huge crowd that came to Joint Base Charleston for the Air Show, and this is your opportunity to see what's behind the gate. The general public at large can't come to a military base. - Normally, yes, right. - So this is our open house. We open the gates, we let you come in. You go out and walk on our planes, talk to our airmen, and just say, "Hey, show me what you're doing." And it's a such a cool event. Friday's our Family Day, and Saturday's the Air Show that's open to the public. - Right. - We've got the Thunderbirds, it's pretty amazing. So it's Saturday, April 28, from nine to five. - And we'll have a lot more information as far as maps, parking, things you can and can't bring with you when you come onto base, we'll have that on our website. We'll also post it on our Facebook page as well, and the thing that's really cool is, now that we have this podcast, is we're gonna have a special episode of our podcast out at the Air Show. - So tell us what we're doing, Michael. - We're gonna talk to one of the Thunderbirds, to hear what it's like to fly in a formation just inches apart with maybe five or six of your buddies and doing all these loops and criss-crossing, and it's gonna be cool. (laughs) - Oh, that is so, not only will you get to see them, even if you choose not to go to the Air Show, all you have to do is look up, you're gonna see some... - Oh, yeah. - Amazing aerial demonstrations over the Low Country. I mean, it's phenomenal. I love sitting back, watching. Maybe we'll get to fly a little bit. Here a couple of years ago, the last Air Show we had, I got to fly in an L-37, it was a L-39, L-37, sorry, for you aviation buffs out there, it's been a while, so it's a Soviet-era fighter-trainer, and it was, they wanted us to do a little media spot for them, so I jumped in the plane and took off with them, and I'm doing barrel rolls over the Low Country. - Yeah, that wouldn't be me, I wouldn't make it. - Yeah, no, Michael would be the puker, so... So yeah, it was such a good time, and when we were done, I got a voice mail on my phone, and my wife saying, "Hey, was that you that buzzed the house?" and I'm like, "I don't know what you're talking about." So it was a good time, and we really had fun, and this Air Show's gonna be just as fun. - Oh, yeah. - Bring your kids out, there's gonna be a lot to do for kids, and for big kids as well. - Yep, yep. - Well, that just about does it for Behind The Wing. I know it's been a short podcast, but we just wanted to get a little information out there about what we're doing, and talk to you about what's going on for just a minute, but we're gonna pick back up next month with a full edition. We've got some great airmen that we're gonna talk to. We're gonna talk about humanitarian missions and we're gonna talk about Combat Camera, a new unit we've got here at Joint Base Charleston, a new Reserve unit that's fantastic, and some other things that we've got going on. - Yep. (orchestral music) - Well, thanks so much for joining us. I'm Major Wayne Capps, I'm your host for Behind The Wing, - And this is Michael Dukes, the news producer. - We will talk to you all next month right here Behind The Wing. - See you then. - Yeah! ♪ Ta da da da da da da da da ♪ ♪ Ta da da da da da da da da ♪ ♪ Ta da da da da da da da da ♪