Loadmaster

Loadmasters utilize physics, moments, engineering formulas, charts, graphs, and heavily applied basic algebra and trigonometry mathematics to determine the proper placement of cargo and passengers, ensuring the aircraft remains within permissible center of gravity limits.

Although the aircraft loadmaster career field was not formally established by the US Air Force until 1953, duties eventually assumed by loadmasters began early in World War II when laundry personnel assigned to Air Corps quartermaster units began flying on troop carrier transports in the Australia and New Guinea, later in the China-Burma-India area of operations, to eject cargo bundles they have previously prepared for airdrop from the doors over drop zones.

Also in 1944 the Air Transport Command began assigning enlisted men, most of whom had been in training for aircrew duty in other fields, including pilots, navigators and bombardiers, as "flight clerks."

By the end of the war, flight clerks were flying on most four-engine transports to be responsible for cargo manifests and take care of passengers.

During World War II, aircraft were initially loaded haphazardly, with ground personnel piling as much cargo into an airplane as possible, which often led to weight and balance problems.

Aerial engineers on bombers and four-engine transports were also trained in weight and balance calculations using special slide rules developed for each airplane and commonly known as "slipsticks".

Loadmasters became extremely important in the harsh conditions of Southeast Asia, where troop carrier aircraft operated into forward airfields that were often under fire, especially after the Tet Offensive of 1968 when soldiers and Marines began calling C-123s and C-130s "mortar magnets."

Loadmasters, often first-term airmen, continued the previous role, but were also trained for tactical operations, particularly aerial delivery of troops and cargo from C-141s.

The Vietnam War also led to the assignment of loadmasters to Airlift Control Elements, commonly known as ALCE (aka TALCE when deployed), where they were responsible for planning loads at forward locations with Army and Marine Corps units.

Airman First Class John Levitow became the only loadmaster to be decorated with the Medal of Honor after his AC-47 gunship was struck by a Viet Cong mortar near Bien Hoa in 1968.

[1] Staff Sergeant Charles Schaub was awarded the Air Force Cross for his actions when his C-130 was struck by ground fire during an airdrop mission over An Loc in 1972.

[2] Staff Sergeant Maynard Grubbs was awarded the Silver Star for his role as the loadmaster on the C-123 crew commanded by Lt. Col. Joe M. Jackson, who landed his C-123 at Khe Sanh to pick up members of an Air Force airlift control team that had been stranded at the besieged camp at Kham Duc.

[6] Sergeant Graham Jones, 32, a Chinook crewman, has been honoured for going beyond his duties by leaving the aircraft in order to fire at the enemy in the heartland of the Taliban so that a quadbike rider could make his getaway on the ground.