Coast Guardsmen and Airmen collaborate at the Home of the “Herc” Published Oct. 30, 2014 By Airman 1st Class Harry Brexel 19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. -- At Little Rock Air Force Base, C-130H's and C-130J's fly overhead day in and day out, training aircrews and contributing to Combat Airlift's ongoing mission. However, the C-130 mission does not end with H or J models. The training accomplished by the U.S. Coast Guard is a prime example of this exception. In the Coast Guard, there are approximately 30 HC-130 cargo planes. Similar to the Air Force, the Coast Guard is planning to phase out its H models through the acquisition of J models. Currently, the Coast Guard has six HC-130J's, the newer improved models. The Coast Guard HC-130J is very similar to Air Force C-130J's, with a few modifications to support the Coast Guard's special mission. Modifications to the cargo plane include a mission system workstation, a large window on each side of the fuselage to allow crewmembers to visually scan the sea surface, a nose-mounted infrared camera for day and night operations, surface search radar as well as other communication and surveillance sensors. Similar to the Air Force, the Coast Guard has a long history with the "Herc". The Coast Guard's lineage with the HC-130 dates back to 1958. The HC-130J fits into the service's legacy of lifesaving missions. According to Coast Guard Lt. Gregory Rehlender, a 48th Airlift Squadron aviation instructor, the HC-130J currently has a multitude of uses within the Coast Guard's 11 core missions. "It is primarily used for search and rescue, but is also used for drug interdiction, law enforcement, international ice patrol missions, and as a way to monitor and regulate fisheries for the National Marine Fisheries Service," said Rehlender. Even though Coast Guard missions may differ from the Air Force, the commonality of the aircraft employed remains the same. Since Little Rock AFB is home to the Air Force's C-130J formal training unit, the Coast Guard has expressed great interest in training operations at The Rock. The Coast Guard has allotted a full-time position here. Over the years, there have been several active-duty Coast Guardsmen stationed at Little Rock AFB to instruct on the piloting of C-130s. Rehlender is soon to be the first J-model Coast Guard instructor and the first to 48th Airlift Squadron. He will be qualified to teach Air Force and coalition partner pilots. Along with teaching students, Rehlender is at The Rock to learn from differences in training instruction and potentially be a liaison for future Coast Guard students. "Though there haven't been Coast Guard J-model pilots trained here yet, I think there are definite future possibilities," said Rehlender. "Each organization may have different mission sets but each service can improve on how it uses the aircraft through the sharing of tactics, techniques and procedures." Currently, all Coast Guard HC-130J pilots are initially trained by the Coast Guard Aviation Training Center (Detached) in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. However, progress has been made in instructing other Coast Guard aircrew members at the "Home of Combat Airlift." A small number of Coast Guard loadmasters have passed through training at Little Rock AFB. The type of cargo that Coast Guard loadmasters drop is much different from what is typically dropped from Air Force C-130s. However, both services gain insight from each other's mission and how operations are carried out, whether dropping life rafts or container delivery systems. "Hopefully in the future, there will be more opportunities for both loadmasters and pilots from the Coast Guard to come here and learn from Airmen through service collaboration," said Rehlender. Until then, at least one Coast Guardsman will be at Little Rock AFB working alongside the C-130 experts of the U.S. Air Force.