908th Airlift Wing Commemorates Final C-130 Flight
The 908th Airlift Wing at Maxwell Air Force Base has commemorated its final C-130 flights with a “4-ship” formation.
Saturday afternoon, the 908th marked the end of the C-130H Hercules aircraft as its assigned platform after nearly 40 years of service.
The final flight “4-ship” formation landed at Maxwell Air Force Base as the four Hercules aircraft flew in formation overhead as a crowd cheered.
The 908th was selected to divest its C-130 fleet in anticipation of a mission change to the formal training unit for the MH-139A Grey Wolf helicopter. The 908th AW was named as the preferred location to host the MH-139 FTU on Nov. 20, 2020.
“I was here in 1985 when we got these,” Retired Brig. Gen. Ed Crowell told Alabama News Network. “We got eight brand new C-130s, and the individual that was one of the major contributors to making that happen was the late congressman William L Dickinson, and prior to that time frame, I had never been in a new aircraft. I got on these aircraft, they even smelled new and that was exciting,” he said.
“This is a combination of 50 years of a tactical airlift legacy here at the 908th,” Col. Craig Drescher, the commander of the 908th Airlift Wing, said. “Almost 40 years to these C-130s, to be able to be here at the end at the close of this chapter of this magnificent legacy, it’s truly an honor a very very special day for all of us,” he said.
The 908th has already divested five of its nine C-130s. They have been transferred to the 189th Airlift Wing of the Arkansas Air National Guard at Little Rock Air Force Base, the 302 Airlift Wing with the Air Force Reserve Command at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, the 910th Airlift Wing with the Air Force Reserve Command at Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Ohio, and the 934th Airlift Wing with the Air Force Reserve Command at Minneapolis-St Paul Air Reserve Station, Minnesota.
The remaining four aircraft are scheduled to leave Maxwell Air Force Base prior to the end of this month.
