JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Nearly 50 South Carolina employers got a rare opportunity to fly in a Charleston C-17 Globemaster III Aug. 10, 2018 over the South Carolina skies as part of the South Carolina Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Bosslift.
After loading 11 people from the Charleston area, the jet flown by the 300th Airlift Squadron, flew to McEntire Air Reserve Base, S.C. new Columbia where the remainder of the employers and ESGR members climbed aboard to join them.
Once all passengers were aboard, the aircraft gave the employers an up-close look at how an airdrop is performed. With everyone except the loadmasters buckled into their seats, everyone looked on in amazement as the rear ramp door opened up over North Auxiliary Field in North, South Carolina.
The displayed continued as a drogue chute fluttered out the back cargo door. Then with a click, the pallet was released and raced toward along the floor into the blue sky. Seconds after leaving the ramp the main parachute deployed from the pallet. Cell phone cameras were snapping photos and video the while time as the employers smiled from ear to ear. They watched the pallet float down to the target area below.
But their excitement was just beginning; moments later they were told they would experience something the Air Force calls an assault landing. They were told that during an assault landing the aircraft would descend rapidly, and land very quickly using a minimum amount of runway.
Once on the ground at North Field, the crew stopped to allow for a group photo beside the jet.
With that bit of excitement over, the aircrew got everyone back onto the jet for the next leg of the journey.
As the C-17 took to the sky once again, the passengers were told they would be heading toward Beaufort on the coast where they would then fly take a low-level altitude flight up the coast to Myrtle Beach.
As they made flew the low-level portion of their trip the employers got the opportunity to head up to the flight deck to get a pilot’s-eye view of the South Carolina coastline.
Once the aircraft arrived over Myrtle Beach, a new course was assumed back toward McEntire to bring the Columbia area employers back to where they started. Then the jet returned to Charleston to conclude the day’s mission.
Employer Outreach is a key function of ESGR’s mission. Each year, national and local level events are hosted across America by all 54 ESGR State Committees, including Briefings with the Boss, Bosslifts, Statement of Support signings, trade shows, educational events, job fairs, and awards presentations. Through these events, staff and volunteers personally engaged more than 130,000 employers in fiscal year 2016 alone.