A historic validation

by Senior Master Sgt. George Thompson
386th Air Expeditionary Wing

5/10/2013 - UNDISCLOSED LOCATION  -- A team of Airmen and contractors from Air Mobility Command, the Central Command Deployment & Distribution Operation Center and the Defense Logistics Agency worked together to validate a big shredding theory.

The Granutech Mobile Rotogrind Shredder assembly, Model 525 HP, is used to shred everything from paper and electronics to body armor and ballistic glass in a matter of seconds.

"This is the first time we've moved this shredder on a C-5," said Ronald Fine, Louis Berger Services general manager. "This is a validation load and after this we will get back to Air Transportability Test Loading Activity with any updates for the certification letter."

The team loaded an 87,000-pound Granutech Shredder Model 525HP onto one of Air Mobility Command's newest airlifters, a C-5M Super Galaxy based out of Dover Air Force Base, Del.

"It's been at least two or three years since one of these shredders was moved on an Antonov An-24, but that was the 2-axle," said Fine. "This is the 3-axle and it's bigger and heavier."

Moving one of the world's largest shredders required a total team effort.

"AMC provided the aircraft, the crew and the load team, the CENTCOM DDOC did all the coordinating with U.S. Transportation Command to get a mission and to get the aircraft here, DLA owns the equipment and the 47th transportation company provided the drivers and truck to get this thing on the aircraft," said Col. Michael Cannon, Defense Logistics Agency, support team commander.

The shredder is being moved Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, to not only support the United States retrograde mission in Afghanistan, but to also return money to the U.S. Treasury.

"This is used to take assets that are no longer useable or assets that we want to demilitarize and shred them into an unusable condition," said Cannon. "The majority of the scrap is sold by the pound to a local vendor which helps the local economy, helps us clean up the camp that we are leaving and it can return money to the treasury by us recouping some of the money dollars per pound."

The AMC team of Airmen from the 9th Airlift Squadron was excited to be a part of this historic airlift event, but they realize it could not have been done without everyone's involvement.

"It's always an honor to take things out of the combat zone and back into the combat zone to help the warriors downrange," said Tech. Sgt Antonio Little, the mission's primary loadmaster. "This was not a one-man show. Everybody pitched in from the guys here on the ground to our loadmaster onboard, it was great team effort."