Together for the ninth time, Polish and American C-130 crews trained at Powidz, Poland, as Krzysztof Kuska reports.
EXERCISE REPORT
AvDet 17-2 in Poland
LAST YEAR the 33. Baza Lotnictwa Transportowego (33rd Transport Aviation Base) at Powidz hosted airmen from the US Air Force’s 94th Airlift Wing (AW), from Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia, and the 86th AW from Ramstein Air Base, Germany. This year it was the turn of the 166th AW of the Delaware Air National Guard, which brought two C-130H2 aircraft to Poland for the Aviation Detachment (AvDet) 17-2 exercise that took place from March 3 to 28.
The H-model Hercules is very similar to Poland’s C-130E, allowing for a high degree of interoperability and mixed-crew training. The training was mainly conducted by Polish instructors.
The crews practised standard Container Delivery System (CDS), Simulated Airdrop Training Bundle (SATB) and heavy equipment drops. A small component from the 166th was meanwhile stationed in Kraków where it trained for joint operations with Polish air-medical evacuation teams.
C-130 vs MiG-29
Among the most spectacular and challenging elements of the AvDet were the mock fighter engagements between C-130s and Polish MiG-29s from the 2…
