Team Vance pilots support MC-12W ISR missions

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Agneta Murnan
  • 71st Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Three pilots at Vance have earned a place in history as part of the first group to fly the Air Force's MC-12W Liberty, one of the newest intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms, in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Capt. Will McDougall, 1st Lt. Marc Finnegan and 1st Lt. Pat Clever were selected out of the 71st Flying Training Wing's Joint Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training program to be trained and qualified in the MC-12W and serve one combat tour each before follow-on assignments to other aircraft.

Currently, each pilot remains assigned to the 71st Operations Support Squadron, but Lieutenant Finnegan, part of JSUPT Class 09-01, was the first to complete his six-month MC-12W tour in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Lieutenant Finnegan is slated to fly the B-1 Lancer next, and said he gained some valuable experiences during his MC-12W assignment.

"It was good to see how the Air Force works in the deployed environment," said Lieutenant Finnegan. "Whereas the missions of the MC-12 and B-1 will be completely different, when I deploy in my next major weapons system, it will be good to have seen the deployment process."

The three Vance graduates completed initial qualification training in Atlanta, Ga., in the MC-12W civilian equivalent simulator, the King Air 350, and were mission qualified in the MC-12W by the Air National Guard at Key Field in Meridian, Miss. The next graduate to return from his tour supporting OIF is Lieutenant Clever, also of Class 09-01 and currently the 362nd Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron, which has already flown over 1,000 combat sorties as an ISR collection, processing, analysis and dissemination system.

The system, according to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs team, consists of a modified aircraft with sensors, line-of-sight and satellite communication data links, and a robust voice communications suite. The 362nd ERS combat sorties have aided in the capture of 12 high-value individuals and helped discover three weapons caches.

"The flying is pretty good and the mission is very rewarding," said Captain McDougall, pilot of the first MC-12W operational combat sortie in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Vance graduate of Class 09-06.

"To future MC-12 pilots, wrote Captain McDougall to Vance commanders, "they can expect to be flying in combat on their 13th flight after UPT."

Passing on information about the training, operations and the deployment process has been an important part of the experience for Lieutenant Finnegan as well, who met with two new Vance pilots assigned to the MC-12W.

"Of course you want to know what missions you'll be part of and you want to seek out any pilots with previous experience in that community," said Lieutenant Finnegan. "Sharing your experience is part of the pilot culture."