Last flight for 'The Dark Crusader'

HURLBURT FIELD — For Lt. Col. Shane Muscato, it was fitting that rain began to fall during Tuesday morning's preparations for the final flight of the MC-130H "Combat Talon II" carrying tail number 0476.

"That's Hurlburt Field shedding a tear for the MC-130H," said Muscato, only half-joking.

Delivered to the 8th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field in 1991, tail number 0476 was the fourth operational Combat Talon II. In 1996, it was one of four MC-130Hs involved in the aircraft's first combat deployment as part of Operation Assured Response in Liberia. It saw service in Operation Inherent Resolve, an ongoing joint task force operation in the Middle East, from which it returned to Hurlburt Field in August of last year.

Muscato, commander of the 15th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt, has spent his career as a navigator aboard the MC-130H, which is being phased out as the new and improved MC-130J takes its place.

On Tuesday, it was time for tail number 0476, also known as "The Dark Crusader," to fly to Arizona's Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. The base stores and preserves out-of-service aircraft as a source of spare parts for operational planes.

"I love me some 'H,' but the 'J' will be a better aircraft," Muscato said. "The end game is going to be a pure fleet of the MC-130J. I am excited for the future," he said.

In the end, the conversion from the 'H' to the 'J' is just another chapter in the story of the basic C-130 airframe, which has been flying since 1954. As Muscato explained, the evolution of the airframe occurs as modifications are made to existing aircraft until it simply makes more sense to develop an entirely new C-130 variant.

That's not to say the MC-130H isn't a versatile aircraft. Its missions run the gamut from getting troops in and out of combat areas, to aerial refueling of helicopters, to a variety of humanitarian missions, Muscato said. As such, he said, the 'H' will be around awhile.

"There's years left to fly on the Talon II," he said. "It's going to take (on) a lot more man-hours."

Maj. Mark Osbeck drew the honor of sitting in the pilot's seat for The Dark Crusader's last flight, leading the other four crew members who would shepherd the MC-130H to Arizona. As he busied himself with preparations for the flight, his co-pilot for the mission, Capt. Steven Stewart, reflected on The Dark Crusader.

Stewart, who has been flying the Combat Talon II since 2013, has been deployed three times — each time aboard tail number 0476.

"It kind of brings a tear to your eye," Stewart said 30 minute before the aircraft taxied out to a runway. "It's taken me all over the world."

If there was anyone with mixed feelings about the departure of The Dark Crusader, it may have been Chief Master Sgt. Joseph Davis, who has been responsible for maintenance of the aircraft.

"With the aging planes, it's a challenge," he said. Still, Davis said, "it's gut-wrenching to see it go."

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