---
title: "Watch This C-130J Become Engulfed In Its Own Dust Storm During Rough Field Ops"
description: "The C-130 is one hardy cargo hauling beast."
date: "2017-07-01"
modified: "2017-07-01"
authors:
  - name: "Tyler Rogoway"
    job_title: "Editor-in-Chief"
    link: "https://www.twz.com/authors/tyler-rogoway.md"
url: "https://www.twz.com/12083/watch-this-c-130j-become-engulfed-in-its-own-dust-storm-during-rough-field-ops"
categories:
  - "Air"
  - "Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC)"
  - "Air Forces"
  - "C-130"
  - "Special Operations Aviation"
  - "Transports"
  - "U.S. Air Force"
tags:
  - "AFSOC"
  - "austere operations"
  - "C-130"
  - "C-130J"
  - "Combat Controllers"
  - "dust storm"
  - "exercises"
  - "Hercules"
  - "Rough Field Landing"
  - "special operations"
---

# Watch This C-130J Become Engulfed In Its Own Dust Storm During Rough Field Ops

![](<https://www.twz.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-twz/content/2017/07/kahdah52.jpg>)
*www.twz.com*

If you read The War Zone regularly you are fully aware of our fascination with the [legendary C-130](<https://www.twz.com/4142/fat-albert-c-130-gives-you-a-buzz-cut-in-this-crazy-head-on-takeoff-video.md>) Hercules. The aircraft can be transformed to satisfy seemingly any[ logical application](<https://www.twz.com/9940/the-usaf-finally-gives-its-ac-130w-gunship-the-big-gun-it-desperately-needs.md>), and Lockheed continues to [roll out new](<https://www.twz.com/7540/first-civilian-version-of-the-c-130j-super-hercules-rolls-off-the-assembly-line.md>) and [highly relevant variants](<https://www.twz.com/11709/lockheed-unveils-new-super-versatile-special-operations-c-130-variant.md>) some 60 years after the first "Herky Bird" flew. Even the more exotic C-130 derivatives that[ were never built](<https://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/a-c-130-hercules-amphibian-makes-too-much-sense-to-be-t-1716610531>) seem like totally logical evolutions of the C-130 concept in retrospect. But one capability that is anything but new for the super-versatile aerial hauler is operating from rough and austere airstrips.

USAF Combat Controllers can deploy to pretty much anywhere with the space available to land a C-130. Once on station, they act as both an advance party to prep the field and as guides to call in the aircraft. When teamed with the[hardy Hercules](<https://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/usafs-oldest-c-130-hercules-iron-horse-has-been-sent-1689811797>), their combined talents can make big things happen in the middle of nowhere.

Case in point, this training exercise featured in the video below, where a USAF C-130J lands on what appears to be dry lakebed with the help of their Air Force Special Operations facilitators. The rugged nature of the C-130J is readily apparent when the entire aircraft becomes engulfed in a storm of blowing dust that is stirred up by its props laboring in reverse configuration. It is a spectacular piece of footage capturing the abilities of an equally spectacular aircraft.

https://youtube.com/embed/v8qU9b_pyF8

Operations like these are underway right now in places like eastern Syria and other clandestine locales, and they often occur under the darkness of night. The ability to deliver vehicles and supplies cargo to [austere forward operating locations](<https://www.twz.com/8004/spec-ops-mc-130-provides-forward-arming-and-refueling-point-for-f-22-raptors.md>), and to be able to support the personnel stationed there in a sustained manner independent of vulnerable land routes, is a capability that is as relevant today as ever. With C-130 [transportable precision artillery](<https://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/spec-ops-c-130-drops-off-mobile-rocket-launcher-in-the-1702362936>) weapons like HiMARS, small and isolated units can pack a big precision punch and can support friendly forces via showering the enemy with precision fires from dozens of miles away without the need of aircraft overhead.

Above all else, being able to access contested territory via tactical airlift [on a grand scale](<https://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/24-c-130s-elephant-walk-for-the-usafs-joint-forcible-en-1670660134>) is a capability that remains largely unique to the US armed forces, and the C-130 is an indispensable component of that prized capability.

*Contact the author: Tyler@thedrive.com*

## Author
Tyler’s passion is the study of military technology, strategy, as well as foreign policy, and he has fostered a dominant voice on those topics in the defense and national security space. Tyler was the creator of the hugely popular defense site *Foxtrot Alpha* before developing *TWZ*, which he continues to lead as the Editor-In-Chief to this day.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/Aviation_Intel>)