The First Crew: Wyoming Air Guard cadre prepares to bring the C-130J home

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Before the first C-130J Super Hercules touches down in Cheyenne in early 2028, a small group of Airmen will already know the aircraft inside and out.

Two pilots and two loadmasters from the 187th Airlift Squadron, 153rd Airlift Wing, Wyoming Air National Guard, make up the wing's initial C-130J cadre — the first crew charged with learning the new airframe, qualifying on its aerial firefighting equipment and building the foundation the rest of the wing will stand on as it retires the C-130H after more than three decades of service.

Lt. Col. Jeremy Burton, Lt. Col. Christopher Valine, Senior Master Sgt. Douglas Benton and Master Sgt. Hector Frietze will spend the coming months training away from home so the wing's two flagship missions — tactical airlift and the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System, or MAFFS — arrive in the new aircraft without missing a beat.

"Excited and honored to be a part of the foundational crew charged with bringing Wyoming into the 21st century of aviation," is how Burton described his selection.

A new generation of Hercules

The comparison between old and new is sharper in Cheyenne than almost anywhere else in the Air Force, because the 153rd Airlift Wing already flies some of the most modernized H-models in the fleet. The wing served as a test bed for the C-130H propulsion upgrade program beginning in 2008, and its aircraft now fly with eight-bladed NP2000 composite propellers, an electronic propeller control system and upgraded Rolls-Royce T56 Series 3.5 engines — modifications that increased thrust, shortened takeoff rolls, and reduced vibration and propeller maintenance hours across the H-model fleet.

Even against that upgraded baseline, the C-130J Super Hercules represents a generational leap rather than another modification. The J-model is the current production version of the world's most widely flown tactical airlifter, and its advantage lies less in any single component than in an aircraft designed from the ground up around integrated digital systems.

Four Rolls-Royce AE 2100D3 turboprop engines, each producing 4,700 shaft horsepower and managed by full-authority digital engine controls, drive the J-model's six-bladed composite propellers. The combination pushes the Super Hercules to a maximum speed of 417 mph — roughly 50 mph faster than the C-130H — while letting it climb quicker, cruise higher and carry a maximum payload of 42,000 pounds more than 1,800 miles.

Those performance gains matter in Wyoming, where crews routinely operate at high density altitudes, over mountainous terrain and in the smoke-filled, turbulent air of a wildfire — environments where extra power and climb capability translate directly into safety margin.

Inside, the differences are even more pronounced. The C-130J replaces the H-model's analog flight deck with fully digital avionics, integrated mission computers and head-up displays for both pilots. The modern cockpit reduces crew workload while improving the precision of airdrop, low-level and firefighting operations, and keeps the aircraft compatible with the joint force's digital communications and navigation requirements for decades to come.

The most visible change, however, is in the crew itself. The C-130J flies with a standard crew of three — two pilots and one loadmaster — though many missions carry a second loadmaster, a common practice for complex or high-tempo operations. The navigator and flight engineer positions, fixtures of Hercules crews since the 1950s, will retire alongside the H-model they served, their decades of expertise giving way to automation and to the crew members who carry that workload forward. Many of those Airmen will see the H-model through its final missions or retrain into new roles within the wing and across the force — finishing the job in one seat before starting over in another.

The smaller crew makes the loadmaster more central to the J-model than at any point in the aircraft's history — a reality reflected in Wyoming's first crew itself, where loadmasters fill half the seats.

"While there's definitely sadness in seeing those roles go away because of the history and professionalism they brought to the aircraft, it also means loadmasters will have to step up in new ways," Frietze said. "I understand that responsibility and hope to help set the standard for what that new generation of loadmasters will look like moving forward."

Upgrades alone could not carry the H-model forever, said Col. Brian Diehl, commander of the 153rd Airlift Wing.

"The C-130H is an outstanding workhorse and highly capable aircraft that has served Wyoming and our great nation well for more than 30 years," Diehl said, adding that the aircraft's aging technology has become prohibitively expensive to maintain and increasingly incompatible with the joint force. "The C-130J will ensure the Airmen of the 153rd Airlift Wing have a modern platform to serve, remaining relevant well into the middle of this century."

The pilots

For Valine, a pilot with the 187th Airlift Squadron and the wing's MAFFS point of contact, the road to the first crew runs straight through a career built on aerial firefighting. He arrived in Cheyenne in 2011 on active duty with the 30th Airlift Squadron, joined the Guard in 2014 and entered the MAFFS program in 2015. A year later, the civilian firefighting company Coulson Aviation hired him to fly its C-130s, where he remained until 2019.

"This experience groomed me to be a more effective MAFFS pilot and helped me be more knowledgeable in my current role as wing MAFFS POC," Valine said.

He described his reaction to being selected for the cadre in three words: excited, nervous and proud to be chosen.

"Being able to stamp my own legacy into this change is pretty cool," Valine said. "When the day comes and we get to go pick up our first plane from the factory, it will be a cool moment."

Burton's selection, covered when he departed for initial C-130J training earlier this year, completed a circle that began when he enlisted in the Wyoming Air National Guard in 1996 as a communication navigation systems technician — a maintainer who dreamed of the cockpit and earned a pilot training slot in 2004.

"Personally, I get to be a big kid with really cool toys and fly an amazing mission with the best unit in the ANG," Burton said. "Professionally, I get to shape our new generation and provide a foundation for future kids that want to live their dream of flying like I did."

Burton said he will know his work is done when he sees "the new J-models on our ramp with bright Yellow Tails and young crews stepping to fly on a beautiful summer evening, knowing they are the best trained and highly motivated to protect our state and nation."

The loadmasters

Benton's path to the cargo compartment also began on the flightline. He enlisted in the active-duty Air Force as an aerospace ground equipment mechanic, joined the Wyoming Air National Guard in May 2001 and turned wrenches for another decade before retraining as a loadmaster in 2012. He has deployed numerous times with both maintenance and operations.

"I am extremely honored to be a part of the team that will help the 153rd Airlift Wing transition to the C-130J," Benton said. "Personally, I will challenge myself to quickly assimilate into a new airframe with new and different expectations for the loadmaster position. Professionally, I look forward to developing connections with other Guard, Reserve and active-duty C-130J loadmasters and pilots, seeking out best practices and bringing that back to Wyoming."

"My role is both as a student and an ambassador for the 153rd as we prepare to transition," he added.

Frietze brings something no one else in the cadre has: years in the C-130J itself. Inspired to enlist by his father's stories of Army service overseas, he began his career as an active-duty loadmaster on the HC-130J, the combat rescue variant of the Super Hercules, before serving as a loadmaster on the standard C-130J at Yokota Air Base, Japan. His wife, who joined the Wyoming Air National Guard before he did, brought him to Cheyenne.

"With over 1,700 flying hours across two C-130J variants, I'm looking forward to applying those lessons learned to the MAFFS mission and helping build a strong foundation for the next generation of crews in Wyoming," Frietze said.

"The mission itself doesn't change, but now I have the chance to help teach and mentor both the current and future loadmasters and pilots who will operate this aircraft for years to come," he said. "Being able to help set the tone and culture from the beginning is something I'm extremely proud to be a part of."

Carrying the Yellow Tails legacy is not something he takes lightly.

"It's honestly humbling and a little intimidating at times," Frietze said. "This transition is a team effort, and I'm fortunate to be one small part of a group trusted by the wing to help build the foundation for the future of this aircraft."

No gap in the fire fight

Threaded through every member's training plan is a single, non-negotiable requirement: the MAFFS mission cannot pause. The wing's C-130s, fitted with the roll-on, roll-off MAFFS units, can discharge thousands of gallons of fire retardant along the leading edge of a wildfire — a capability state and federal agencies have relied on Wyoming to provide since 1975.

To protect that capability, the wing built a phased plan that qualifies the new crew early and keeps the old aircraft fighting fires late.

"The 153rd is sending a cadre crew to transition to the C-130J in 2026," Diehl said. "This crew will qualify on C-130J MAFFS equipment with our sister ANG unit in Channel Islands, Calif., in 2027 — ensuring that when the first C-130J lands in Cheyenne it will be MAFFS ready."

At the same time, the wing will keep C-130H MAFFS crews current longer than a typical conversion would allow, flying alongside the Nevada Air National Guard's 152nd Airlift Wing in Reno while Cheyenne divests its H-models. The arrangement ensures the national MAFFS enterprise can keep all eight systems available to the National Interagency Fire Center through U.S. Northern Command throughout the transition.

"MAFFS is a team much bigger than a single wing," Diehl said. "To do this we need help from the National Guard Bureau, the 152nd Airlift Wing and the 146th Airlift Wing."

The National Guard Bureau is providing training slots and temporary duty funding, California's 146th Airlift Wing is providing C-130J MAFFS training and seasoning, and the 152nd Airlift Wing is providing C-130H aircraft, maintenance and aircrew support.

For Valine, that continuity is the entire point of volunteering for the first crew.

"For me personally, this is the whole reason I wanted to be part of the initial wave," he said. "MAFFS is extremely important to me and has been a major part of my Guard life for over the past decade. Being one of the initial instructors to shape the future of MAFFS in a new airframe is an incredible responsibility, and I am proud to take on that role."

Benton's connection to the mission is generational — his father served as a fire lookout, then a wildland firefighter, and eventually worked in the aerial firefighting efforts of the California Department of Forestry, now CAL FIRE.

"Aerial firefighting is in my blood," Benton said. "The MAFFS mission is very near and dear to my heart, and I am excited to learn from and interfly with Channel Islands specifically to establish a path for the 153rd to transition as seamlessly as possible."

Burton said the weight of the mission is never far from his mind during training.

"I am laser focused on how important this training is to make sure we are ready to assume our role in the future of the MAFFS program," he said. "I think about it every day and visualize how we will use our new aircraft to sustain the critical task of living up to the legacy of the Yellow Tails."

A wing's next chapter

For Diehl, the aircraft itself is only half the story.

"Like all hardware, a C-130H or J is nothing more than a paperweight without its dedicated Airmen," he said.

Reinvention is the wing's oldest tradition. Born in 1946 from the World War II-era 402nd Fighter Squadron, the unit has flown 12 different airframes from Cheyenne — Mustangs and Sabre jets, Flying Boxcars and Super Constellations — trading fighters for airlift in 1961 and welcoming its first C-130s in 1972. Three years later it became one of the first units equipped for the MAFFS mission, and in 1997 it flew the first American aerial firefighting missions ever conducted outside the United States, battling jungle fires in Indonesia. The C-130J will be the 13th aircraft to call Cheyenne home — and Diehl said the Airmen making this transition are cut from the same cloth as every generation before them.

"The men and women of the 153rd Airlift Wing are dedicated patriots. They have seen it, they have done it, and they are ready for more," Diehl said. "The C-130J transition will be a challenge, but our cowboys and cowgirls are up for it and will very soon be setting the standard for what right looks like in a C-130J wing."

The first crew, meanwhile, wants the community that has backed the Yellow Tails for generations to know the change on the ramp does not change the promise.

"I'd want the Wyoming community to know that while the aircraft itself may be changing, the mission and our commitment to the state and the nation remain exactly the same," Frietze said. "The Airmen involved in this transition are working hard to ensure we continue that legacy and remain ready to answer the call whenever we're needed."

"It takes a village to raise the new generation of our military team," Burton said. "We are stepping into a new world, and we need everyone to join the effort and keep the Yellow Tails as the premier C-130 wing in the Air National Guard."

Valine put it more simply.

"As hard as the change from the H to the J is going to be on some members, it ensures the four fans of freedom will continue to fly over Wyoming for a long time," he said. "Everyone has a big role in this change, and the support and help from the community and Airmen from all over the wing is greatly appreciated."