Anyone who has read about air mobility in the Royal Australian Air Force News over the past 20 years has probably been reading the work of Eamon Hamilton. He served as the Public Affairs Officer (journalist) for Air Lift/Mobility Group from 2006-2022. You can hear all about his career and how the media integrates with operations, exercises and training in the latest episode of 'Workhorse'.

C-130s are capable of landing very rudimentary runways, including grass, coral, sand, dirt, etc. Yet, they can't land on all types of surfaces because some are too soft to support the weight and tyre pressures of a C-130. In the Royal Australian Air Force, the science of figuring out which runways can support a C-130 belongs to the Airfield Engineers. This episode features Gilbert Gonthier who led the Mobile Airfield Engineering Team (MAET) in 2007-08. In this episode of Workhorse, Gilbert describes how airfield engineers assess runways for suitability, along with snippets from his long career in the RAAF.

Exercise Cope Thunder was run in the Philippines, providing combat air mobility training for anyone lucky enough to participate. Greg Scholes was a pilot with 36 Squadron and relates his experience on Cope Thunder, as well as details about his career on C-130Hs, VIP operations, and his RAAF career.

Detachment 'S' was a loosely formed task force that conducted air transport operations in Vietnam during, circa April 1975. It was primarily a humanitarian assistance mission, providing food to refugees on the island of Phu Quoc, but it also conducted evacuations from Phan Rang, Operation Babylift, and evacuated embassy officials from Saigon. Ian 'Scooter' Scott was involved in some of these missions, including an Operation Babylift sortie. In this episode Scooter details his exploits as part of Detachment 'S' and relates highlights from his long career in RAAF air mobility and on RAAF C-130s - including as Commanding Officer 37 Squadron, Officer Commanding 84 Wing and Commander Air Lift Group.

Air Force safety systems evolved through the 1990s-present day. This journey included major shifts in policy that led the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) to the current airworthiness system that oversights C-130 operations. Dave 'DT' Turner was a C-130H navigator and held many safety roles during his long career in the Royal Australian Navy and RAAF. In this episode, DT recounts the pros and cons of the various safety policies, along with touching on operations he flew during his career.

Shark 02 crashed on the island of Nias in 2005, resulting in 9 fatalities. Scott Olsen was a C-130H and J loadmaster, and in this episode, he recounts the repatriation mission that ensued, along with a rundown of his career.

Nicknames are rife in Australian culture; particularly in the Royal Australian Air Force. This episode of Workhorse dives into nicknames used by the RAAF C-130 community (aircrew, maintenance and support staff).

Tony Hall (Hally, or 'Tony Hall from Australia') and Graham Johnson (Johno 1, or Kramer) join me (K9) in presenting the top 100 nicknames and spinning tales about the nicknames and how people got them.

WARNING: Many nicknames came from an era when political correctness was not a thing. This podcast episode is decidedly un-PC and contains explicit language. Don't listen if you're offended by bigoted language and swearing.

Royal Australian Air Force C-130s participated in courses run by the US Advanced Airlift Tactical Training Center (AATTC) to hone their skills in combat environments. The course developed skills in airdrop, low-level flying, and threat avoidance. Michael 'Gus' Garside captained a 36SQN C-130H crew on this course in June 1998, and his crew experienced a double-engine failure during one of the sorties at AATTC. In this episode of Workhorse, Gus recounts the flight, along with highlights from his RAAF career as a flying instructor and C-130 crewmember.