The Small Yet Mighty C-12s

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The Small Yet Mighty C-12s
Stars and Stripes | Bryce S. Dubee | January 02, 2008

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan - When most people think about military aircraft, they envision fighter jets streaking through the sky or massive cargo planes air-dropping thousands of pounds of equipment and troops.

They don't tend to picture a small, twin turboprop plane like the C-12J Huron.

But don't let the size or look fool you. The C-12 carries its load in the military, too.

A group of C-12J planes and their pilots assigned to Yokota's 459th Airlift Squadron got their chance to shine during a recent deployment to support Operation Enduring Freedom-Philippines, a U.S. special operations mission aimed at helping the Philippine military deal with insurgents and terrorist organizations.

Transporting cargo and personnel during the four-month deployment, the pilots often found themselves landing on rural runways, some no more than 4,000 feet long, explained Capt. Troy Saechao, the OEF-P mission commander. Yokota's runway is about 11,000 feet long.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,159227,00.html