Photos

Cpl. Kyle E. Johnson, 22, San Ramon, Calif., load master, Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 352, Marine Aircraft Group 11, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, guides a container delivery system onto a KC-130J aircraft here Dec. 26. Combat Logistics Battalion 2, 1st Marine Logistics Group and VMGR-352 conducted an aerial resupply delivery to Bravo Company, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 5 in northwestern Iraq. ?The only way that we can re-supply Reconnaissance Marines is by conducting air deliveries,? said Cpl. Mathew J. Ladd, 21, Bowling Green, Ky., air chief, CLB-2, 1st MLG. ?Bravo Co. is limited to what they can carry because they need to maintain maneuverability to complete their mission.? The Recon Marines were resupplied with food, water and vehicle repair parts. As soon as the KC-130J pilots neared the Bravo Co. position, they lowered the plane to several hundred feet above the ground, opened the ramp and accelerated at an incline so the bundles would slide down the rollers and out the back of the aircraft. ?The parachutes initiate right as the bundles fall out of the plane,? said Maj. Brian J. Gilbertson, 33, Waukesha, Wis., executive officer/pilot, VMGR-352, MAG-11, 3rd MAW. ?It takes roughly 400 ft. for the parachutes to fully bloom.? Once the four 1,500 pound bundles landed, Bravo Co. collected the supplies and folded the parachutes so they could be used again. Combat Logistics Battalion 2 provides western Iraq with all air resupply deliveries.