Inside US Airlift and Rescue Operations in East Africa

The latest C-130 rotation at Camp Lemonnier follows a busy year for US airlift and personnel recovery in the region, including the arrival of the HH-60W Jolly Green II, joint rescue training and support to African partners.

The Wyoming Air National Guard’s 187th Airlift Squadron assumed responsibility for the 75th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron’s East African airlift mission on 9 September, returning the C-130H Hercules to Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti.

The Wyoming unit replaced the Air Force Reserve’s 815th Airlift Squadron, which had spent the previous several months operating C-130J-30 Super Hercules aircraft across the Horn of Africa.

According to outgoing 75th EAS commander Lt Col Stephanie Brown, the 815th completed 151 missions and 592 combat and support sorties, logged more than 1,000 flying hours and transported around 2,500 passengers and 4.2 million lb of cargo. The unit also reported a 99% mission-capability rate.

Its work included intra-theatre airlift, cargo movement and medical evacuation. The US Air Force said the unit supported joint and combined forces as well as African partner-led, US-enabled operations and training across East Africa.

The 815th Rotation in Numbers

Missions	151
Combat and support sorties	592
Flying hours	More than 1,000
Passengers	Around 2,500
Cargo	4.2 million lb
Reported mission-capability rate	99%

Figures reported by the outgoing 75th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron commander.

Three Hercules Configurations in One Year

Minnesota Air National Guard C-130H3s were flying the same 75th EAS mission earlier in 2026.

For Minnesota’s 133rd Airlift Wing, it was the unit’s final planned deployment with the H-model before its transition to the C-130J.

The Air Force Reserve’s 815th Airlift Squadron arrived in June with the stretched C-130J-30.

The J-30 adds 15 ft, or about 4.6 m, to the standard C-130 fuselage and increases pallet capacity from six to eight. The J-model also uses a three-person standard flight crew of two pilots and a loadmaster, compared with the H-model’s pilots, navigator, flight engineer and loadmaster.

Wyoming has now returned with C-130Hs. The 153rd Airlift Wing has flown the East African mission before and officially assumed the 75th EAS task again on 9 September.

The succession of Minnesota H3s, Mississippi J-30s and Wyoming H-models also shows how the Hercules mission can continue while individual squadrons and aircraft configurations rotate through Djibouti.

Jolly Green II Arrives in Djibouti

The 56th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron arrived at Camp Lemonnier on 10 June with HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopters.

The helicopters, personnel and supporting equipment were transported into Djibouti aboard a 439th Airlift Wing C-5 Super Galaxy. Official photographs show the HH-60Ws packed inside the C-5 before being unloaded through the aircraft’s raised nose.

US Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa described the deployment as establishing a first-of-its-kind critical rotary-wing rescue capability in East Africa.

The HH-60W is replacing the HH-60G Pave Hawk as the US Air Force’s dedicated combat rescue helicopter. Its primary mission is the recovery of isolated personnel from hostile or denied territory. The Air Force also lists civil search and rescue, medical evacuation, humanitarian missions, disaster relief and non-combatant evacuation among its roles.

At Camp Lemonnier, the 56th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron integrates with the 82nd Expeditionary Rescue Squadron and the Joint Personnel Recovery Center.

The 449th Air Expeditionary Group, also based at Camp Lemonnier, provides personnel-recovery task forces and intra-theatre airlift in support of US Africa Command and US Central Command requirements, including support to regional partners.

The C-130s handle the fixed-wing airlift task. The HH-60Ws provide a dedicated rotary-wing recovery platform, while pararescue teams and other specialists provide the personnel needed to reach and recover people on the ground.

MV-22s and KC-130Js Join the Rescue Training

US Air Force pararescuemen worked with the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa Joint Personnel Recovery Center during Exercise Vigilant Ursa on 25 June.

The exercise tested 40 objectives across a theatre-wide personnel-recovery scenario, including notification, command and control, recovery and the treatment of isolated personnel.

US Marine Corps MV-22B Ospreys from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 362 (Reinforced) supported the exercise and moved Air Force pararescuemen during the recovery scenario.

Marine aviation was involved again in August when Air Force pararescuemen from the 406th Air Expeditionary Wing conducted jump training over Djibouti from a Marine Corps KC-130J Super Hercules.

The mix is useful context for the HH-60W deployment. Personnel recovery from Djibouti is not dependent on a single aircraft type. Depending on the task, rescue forces can work with helicopters, tiltrotors and fixed-wing transports alongside the specialist personnel and command-and-control structure already in the region.

Search Support in Equatorial Guinea

In July, a US Air Force Guardian Angel team was sent to Equatorial Guinea after a Harbin Z-9 military helicopter went down in dense jungle.

The government of Equatorial Guinea requested assistance through the US Embassy. A US team comprising two pararescuemen and a tactical air control party specialist worked with Equatorial Guinean forces on search planning and specialised search patterns.

AFRICOM said the team helped narrow the search area, enabling local forces to locate the wreckage after a search that had already continued for several weeks.

The official account does not identify an HH-60W as taking part in the Equatorial Guinea operation.

The connection is instead organisational. The Guardian Angel team supports the AFRICOM Joint Personnel Recovery Center, part of the wider personnel-recovery structure into which the Jolly Green II has now been deployed.

Airlift Beyond Military Cargo

A C-130J departed Chabelley Airfield in Djibouti on 21 February carrying humanitarian supplies for nearby Chabelley Village.

The mission was organised with the US Embassy, local community leaders, the 449th Air Expeditionary Group and Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa. The US Air Force described it as the first humanitarian airdrop launched from Chabelley Airfield.

The operation was considerably smaller than the wider tactical airlift task, but it is a documented example of the same aircraft and support infrastructure being used directly for a local Djiboutian community.

Keeping the Hercules Flying

On 6 July, maintainers at Camp Lemonnier replaced an engine and propeller assembly on one of the deployed 815th Airlift Squadron C-130Js.

The work was carried out in Djibouti rather than at the squadron’s home station at Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi. Official imagery shows the replacement powerplant being lifted into position and technicians completing the installation on the deployed aircraft.

That support is part of what allows the airlift mission to continue between rotations. Aircraft, crews and squadrons may change, but the operation still requires technicians, spares, tooling and logistics support capable of keeping the aircraft serviceable in theatre.

By September, the 815th’s C-130J-30s had handed the mission to Wyoming’s C-130Hs.

The HH-60Ws introduced in June now sit alongside that established airlift capability, giving Camp Lemonnier a dedicated rotary-wing rescue element as well as tactical airlift and access to strategic transports when larger aircraft or equipment need to be moved into the region.

Aircraft Detail:

HH-60W Jolly Green II

Specification	HH-60W
Primary role	Combat search and rescue
Manufacturer	Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company
Length	19.72 m
Rotor diameter	16.34 m
Height	5.1 m
Published speed	153 KIAS at sea level
Published range	599 nm
Ceiling	20,000 ft
Aerial refuelling	Yes
Armament	Two 7.62 mm miniguns or two .50-calibre machine guns
First flight	17 May 2019
Initial operating capability	2022

The HH-60W uses the UH-60M Black Hawk production model as its foundation but carries systems developed around combat rescue.

Its equipment includes Link 16 and the Situational Awareness Data Link, integrated cockpit and cabin displays, advanced communications, ADS-B and tactical moving maps.

The defensive fit includes radar, laser, missile and hostile-fire warning systems, integrated chaff and flares, cockpit and cabin armour and infrared-masking exhausts.

C-130H Versus C-130J-30

	C-130H	C-130J-30
Length	29.3 m	34.69 m
Wingspan	39.7 m	39.7 m
Engines	4 × Allison T56-A-15	4 × Rolls-Royce AE 2100D3
Published speed	318 KTAS at 20,000 ft	356 KTAS at 22,000 ft
Range with 35,000 lb payload	1,300 nm	2,100 nm
Maximum allowable payload	19,090 kg	19,958 kg
Standard pallet positions	6	8
Standard flight crew	5	3

The J-30’s stretched fuselage adds two pallet positions to the basic C-130 cargo compartment.

The propulsion systems are also different. The H-model uses T56-A-15 turboprops, while the J-model uses AE 2100D3 engines driving six-bladed composite propellers.

The J-model’s digital flight deck removes the navigator and flight engineer from the standard crew.

C-5M Super Galaxy

Specification	C-5M
Primary role	Outsize strategic airlift
Length	75.3 m
Wingspan	67.89 m
Cargo compartment length	43.8 m
Cargo compartment width	5.79 m
Pallet positions	36
Maximum allowable payload	127,460 kg
Maximum take-off weight	381,024 kg
Published no-cargo range	About 7,000 nm

Both ends of the C-5 cargo compartment can be opened for loading and unloading.

For the June deployment to Djibouti, that capacity allowed the aircraft to carry HH-60Ws and their supporting personnel and equipment directly into Camp Lemonnier.

Aircraft performance figures are published US Air Force data. Actual performance varies with configuration, loading and operating conditions.