C-130 Hercules demonstration team performs for festival fans

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Lynsie Nichols
  • 374 Airlift Wing Public Affairs
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan --  Large crowds of Japanese and American citizens showed up to watch the C-130 Hercules demonstration at Yokota's Japanese-American Friendship Festival Aug. 20-21.

An elite selection of pilots and loadmasters from the 374th Operations Group were selected to demonstrate the capabilities of Yokota's primary aircraft as the only C-130 demonstration team in Pacific Air Forces.

The team performed various demonstrations including airdrops and combat offloading procedures.

Major Jason Martinez, a navigator from the 374th OG, feels grateful to be a part of the demonstration team.

"Being part of the team is a pretty big honor," he said. "They pick the most experienced Airmen to fill the crew positions."

The selected Airmen spent three months training for the demonstration by practicing air drop missions.

"Everybody has worked so hard up to this point to get us here," said Capt. Chris Tidwell, a navigator from the 36th Airlift Squadron. "We went out, did our job, and put on a great show for the community."

Although the weather was overcast on the first day, the demonstration was performed as scheduled.

"We did what we set out to do, which was to put on a demonstration of our capabilities, safely," said Staff Sgt. Kao Khamone, a loadmaster from the 36th AS.

It was an awesome feeling to look down on the crowd from inside the aircraft and see them pointing and taking photographs, said Sergeant Khamone.

Due to rainy weather on the second day, the C-130 demonstration team did not get to perform, but they were still able to execute a ground show of loading and unloading cargo.

Despite the festival's large crowds, the Aircrew members managed to maintain their focus.

"Everyone involved performed with the utmost professionalism and I couldn't be more proud," said Captain Tidwell. "For us, this was just another day flying, but knowing that people are on the ground enjoying what we do makes us proud to serve and build those relations with our Japanese hosts."