I've searched here and Google for hours to try and find as much information as I could, but really didn't find all of what I was looking for. I'm really hoping a Loadmaster can give me some info. Let me get started.

I understand there is a lot of travel. Is it constant travel? For example, are you always on the move? Or is there a lot of downtime? Do you really get to rest at all? I guess what I'm getting at is... how would 1 week go for a Loadmaster?

A co-worker of mine brought up a good point... he said, "Sure, you probably get to travel a lot, but do you actually get to stay there and experience it? Or are you just dropping stuff off and leaving?" I guess that's another concern of mine, but that probably relates to what I asked above.

All that said, I love what I've found out about Loadmasters so far, and I probably know which way I'm headed in the future.

This depends greatly on th airframe you get. C-130 is a tactical airlift platform. Meaning you are moving stuff around from a central distrobution point in a Theater of Operations. C-5 is a Strategic airlifter. You take large amounts of stuff from main base (likely in the US) to a AOR and have it distributed by the Tactical airlift. So the tactical airlifters stay in places longer than the strat guys. C-17 does a little of both.

Ahh, I see. Thanks a ton for the info.

I should also ask... I understand you are randomly assigned an airframe, but will you get an opportunity to do a little of both?

Your airframe gets assigned at basic loadmaster school after basic training unless you are in the guard/reserver. It isn't impossible to switch between airframes, but it isn't something you do very easily either. If you get C-130, you can switch between the different versions fairly easy (AC-130, MC-130, C-130E, C-130J)

In 12 years as a Load, I visited 52 countries. Some I got to spend time, others not. If you are on slicks, you will travel more than those on Special Ops.

It was a great job....really great job in the Guard or Reserve.

Thanks again for the info. If active duty, how much of the year would you suppose a loadmaster would be gone? To put things simply, I'd just like to be gone as much as possible, and I'm thinking loadmaster is interesting and is gone a lot. Is there really anything else similar?