Page 7 - Nov18

Army aviators hold up the American ag in front of their King Air deployed by Operational Support Airlift Activity to Balad, Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
“The Army King Air has a large pallet accessible cargo door, a heavy-duty floor structure and cabin cargo liner making it an extremely versatile aircraft,” Roling said. “Some of those aircraft have been modified with surveillance systems for various non- OSA military missions.”
He added: “The majority of the current C-12 fleet were procured by the military between 1984 and 1986. The fleet has received periodic upgrades with most of them receiving at least two major modifications, particularly pertaining to avionics. The vast majority of our C-12s have a Rockwell Collins FMS-3000 system. The Army National Guard does have five C-12Vs that are the Pro Line 21 suite aircraft. They also serve in the same role as the rest of the fleet providing transport of personnel and limited cargo.”
The average age of the C-12 fleet is 32 years, with an average fleet total time of 16,989 hours. The high-time aircraft has more than 22,000 hours with the lowest having about 12,500 hours.
C-12 missions run the gamut
“Primarily within the operational support activity
fleet, the King Air is used for non-executive travel while
not deployed down range,” Smith said. “This means
everyone from the lowest private to the highest general
has and can continue to travel on our fleet at no cost to
their unit. We also fly authorized civilian employees of operations providing manned ISR to combatant
NOVEMBER 2018
Among the missions that the U.S. Army Operational
Support Airlift Activity conducts are light cargo ights like
this one. Here, cases of raw blood are being loaded in Colorado Springs, Colorado, before being own to Fort Bliss, Texas, for processing, then sent to Germany to be used on wounded troops in theater.
the government and certain people designated as priority travelers who have time-critical deadlines.”
Smith added: “Of course, because of the King Air’s flexibility, we also can kit aircraft for military intelligence
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 5