326th AS flies base's first Capstone mission

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Andria Allmond
  • 512th Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  Members of the 326th Airlift Squadron participated in a Capstone mission Aug. 2-16, marking the first time Dover Air Force Base has been tasked for support in the program's 26-year history. 

The Capstone program is an education course designed for general officers of all military branches. This program is a five-week tutorial course which trains individuals on effective planning and employment of U.S. forces. During the course, participants are educated on major issues affecting national security with key allied nations. 

After the classroom education, the students break up into three groups of 15 and attend a "field trip" to put these theories into practice by visiting major U.S. military commands, stateside and abroad. One of these groups was slated to go to sub-Saharan Africa. The "driver" for this Africa Command cadre was a 512th Airlift Wing aircrew. 

The Capstone mission crew was composed of Maj. Chagaris, aircraft commander, Lt. Col Kevin Higginbotham, mission commander, Lt. Col. Jeff Miller and Capt. Lawrence Dingler, pilots, and Senior Master Sgt. Kathleen Lambert, Master Sgt. Dan Caldwell and Senior Airman J.R. Moyer, all loadmasters. 

"We did everything to make traveling on the C-17 comfortable for the generals. We set up litters for them to rest on, brewed fresh coffee and had nonperishable snacks at their disposal," said Major Chagaris, 326th AS pilot and aircraft commander for the Capstone mission. "We kept everything extra clean and on-time. The general officers really appreciated what the crew did to keep them content." 

Major Chagaris credits the loadmasters for the mission's success. 

"At first, there is the fear of the unknown, since we had never done this mission," said Sergeant Lambert, 326th AS loadmaster. "You never know what's going to go down. After a while though, we were talking with them, and they were really interested in who we were personally." 

Despite this being Dover's first Capstone mission, Major Chagaris declared it a success. 

"The 512th (Airlift Wing) and 326th (Airlift Squadron) were represented well. We set a new standard of comfort in a mission normally accomplished by the KC-10 but with C-17 reliability," said Major Chagaris. "This was especially important due to the high visibility of the mission, having that many (distinguished visitors). It's one of those things where you can shine or go down in flames, and we brought it."