The original C-23 had very specific purpose, to resupply airfields in Western Europe during the Cold War and entered service in the 1980s.

This version first flew on 23 December 1982,[4] with the first order for 18 aircraft being placed by the United States Air Force in March 1983.

[7] In 2024, De Havilland Canada’s did a study to evaluate returning the C-23 Sherpa to production, noting that the aviation market had seen other succesfull revivals such as the Twin Otter and CL-415 (DHC-515 Firefighter).

[8] The Army purchased four civil Short 330 aircraft to replace the de Havilland Canada C-7 Caribou being used to support the Kwajalein Missile Range.

[10] As part of the U.S. Army's Constant Hawk intelligence gathering program, five Short 360s were modified for use in Iraq and flew in theater between 2006 and 2011.

[11][12] A total of 43 C-23s were in service with the U.S. Army as of November 2008 (all US C-27 aircraft at that time were transferred to the US Coast Guard in 2012 due to budget shortfalls).

[14] As part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014, 8 C-23s may be transferred to the State of Alaska to operate from short rural runways for search-and-rescue and medium-lift missions.

[15] While the US Army does not operate many fixed wing aircraft besides the Sherpa (due to Key West Agreement), they lost a C-23B in 2001 in Georgia, USA, and 21 died.

[18] On 3 March 2001, a C-23B Sherpa belonging to the 171st Aviation Regiment of the Florida Army National Guard was carrying 18 construction workers of the Virginia Air National Guard from Hurlburt Field, Florida to Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia.

His weight in the tailcone shifted the center of gravity sufficiently that the airplane became unstable when a patch of severe turbulence was encountered.

The violent g-force shifts then encountered rendered the crew unconscious and caused the breakup of the aircraft in flight near Unadilla, Georgia, killing the 21 persons on board.

[20] Several surplus aircraft were sold to United States operators,[21] who used them to transport equipment and crews to remote work sites.

[24][25] Estonia ended up not taking the Sherpa, a decision they reached in 2015 because they could not afford the maintenance, despite the low initial cost procuring of the aircraft.

[27] In 2019, the Estonian Air Force received PZL C-145 instead which was a better match for their requirement, they were donated from the USAF which was retiring its fleet.

[29][30] The Brazilian Army Aviation had interest in acquiring eight Sherpa planes to supply its Special Border Platoons in the Amazon.

They considered the heavy expenditure on these aircraft inopportune at a time of scarce resources, preferring that investment be made in the FAB's existing planes.