Det 4, Headquarters 4th Marine Division: C-130

Saturday, August 20, 2022

C-130

C-130 Hercules

The C-130 Hercules is a heavy hauler. It was brought into service in 1956 and continues to be updated and used. It is extremely rugged and can be used on poorly maintained airfields.

My first ride on a C-130 was in 1967. We loaded our big trucks and HAWK missiles in Yuma, Arizona, and flew 15 minutes to El Centro, California, just to practice loading and unloading our equipment on the aircraft.

I flew them a number of times in Vietnam and to Okinawa, and the head was just as shown, with no curtain, open to view. A nice Vietnamese lady used the facility, looking back at us and laughing and flirting.

Our Marine C-130 Squadron, VMGR-234, was located at the Glenview Naval Air Station north of Chicago. We would load our radio jeeps and fly around the country, setting up communication shots and working with other units. We flew to Boston, New Orlean, Florida, 29 Palms, Wisconsin, LA, and San Francisco for long weekends.

We also used the C-130 as an air control agency, with an air control van placed in the aircraft. It was very effective during an attack. And the C-130 could be used as a gun platform firing a 105 mm howitzer and other weapons.

I took a hop from Glenview to Hawaii in 1982. One way it took two days because of high winds, the other time it made it nonstop. 13 hours, I think, a long time to spend in a loud aircraft.

When the Gulf War broke out our Commanding Officer took a 130 and went to the west coast, then Hawaii, Japan, and then Thailand, carrying cargo all the way. He took along my friend and Squadron mate. He was going to take me as well, but then got nervous about two Colonels on a boondoggle to war.

After he got to Thailand he said, hey, we are halfway around the world, so they kept going west. They got to Saudi Arabia just as the war was breaking out, so they hauled equipment around for the next week. My friend called me up at 2 am to tell me he was at the war, and I was not. He spent 96 flight hours in the airplane and slept in a hammock.

The facilities are a bit primitive

Beth and I took a C-130 from Ramstein, Germany to Siganella, Sicily. Beth told me she needed to use the washroom, and I was a bit concerned, but they had the nice curtain erected for privacy.

The pilot was taking his wife and young daughter to Sicily. She thought it would be the beach and sun, but it was cold. The pilot and I went into town to get rental cars. His license was a week out of date, so we took his family around for that night and the next day.

The C-130 is slow so it is not our favored plane for space A, but if nothing else is flying we take it.