On September 16th, 2015 a flight ceremony for the MC-12W Liberty was held at Beale Air Force Base, California. It was the “fini” flight for the last of the US Air Force’s MC-12Ws, an aviation tradition that honors aircrew members or aircraft models in a final flight at a particular location. The 41 MC-12W aircraft based at Beale are being shifted to the US Army and US Special Operations Command (SOCOM).
Airmen from the 427th Reconnaissance Squadron, 306th Intelligence Squadron along with their families were present to celebrate their time working with the MC-12W and the numerous accomplishments they achieved.
“Every single person that I’ve met has poured their heart and soul into this and we’ve had some great successes,” said Lt. Col. Joseph M. Laws, 427th RS commander told US Airforce 9th Reconnaissance Wing Public Affairs. “The real victory is the people that got to come home.”
By today, October 1st, the US Air Force has completely removed the plane from their inventory, the end of a lengthy and politically difficult process that began last year to cut the MC-12 from its budget books as it transferred the aircraft to the US Army and US Special Operations. The bulk of USAF surveillance and intelligence gathering missions are now handled by the growing unmanned General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-9 Reaper programme.
Air Force officials began rapidly acquiring and deploying the MC-12W Liberty in 2009 for missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. The MC-12W was a crucial asset for commanders seeking intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.
“The Liberty program set new acquisition, training and deployment benchmarks for the Air Force,” said Lt. Gen. Bob Otto, the Air Force deputy chief of staff for ISR. “It enabled the deployment of a full combat squadron of aircraft to the war zone in less than 10 months and the fielding of three full combat squadrons to theater operations in less than a year.”
A highly modified Hawker-Beechcraft King Air 350 aircraft, The MC-12W Liberty gathered intelligence information pertinent to the success of ground forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The MC-12W became the fastest delivering weapon system since the P-51 Mustang in World War II, with a mere eight months from contract to combat.
The figures of the successful program are staggering: Since its first combat mission on 10 June, 2009, the MC-12 community has flown 400,000 combat hours and participated in 79,000 combat sorties, the service says. In November 2014, the air force reported that MC-12 crews had aided in the kill or capture of “more than 8,000 terrorists”, and uncovered 650 weapons caches.
The leadership for the 9th Reconnaissance Wing had nothing to say but good things about the MC-12W program and the people who worked in it. Beale has been the home to the MC-12W since June 6, 2011.
“Warfare is ultimately a human endeavor; it is the marriage of technology and people,” said Col. Douglas J. Lee, 9th Reconnaissance Wing commander. “The MC-12 is a great story because it linked those people in the aircraft with people on the ground and it allowed them to carry out a critically important mission.”
“Its bitter sweet for a lot of us to see this plane be transferred,” Laws said. “Our MC-12 Airmen are excited to go on and move towards their next challenges throughout the Air Force, but we are all going to miss the MC-12.”
“Our Airmen will miss this rewarding mission,” said Col. Darren B. Halford, 9th Operations Group commander. “Although the mission is leaving Beale and Air Combat Command, the aircraft are going to very good homes. Our joint and Total Force partners will ensure the MC-12 continues to help find, fix and finish the enemies of freedom.”