GREAT FALLS — After 12 years of taking Montana’s mission around the world, the 120th Airlift Wing’s C-130H Hercules aircraft took to the skies for one final training mission on Saturday.
WATCH Madison Collier’s Full report below:
Crews flew to the Vigilante Drop Zone near Power before returning to Great Falls, where firefighters welcomed the aircraft with a traditional water salute as they taxied along the flight line.
The flight marked another step in the Montana Air National Guard’s conversion to the C-130J Super Hercules.
Over the past 12 years, the wing’s C-130H mission has reached all seven continents and more than 50 countries, with four major deployments.
For Lt. Col. Casey Lalonde, commander of the 120th Operations Support Squadron and a C-130 pilot, the farewell carries a personal connection.
“A little bittersweet, but it’s been an extraordinary mission for us,” Lalonde said.
He was the wing’s first pilot to complete the C-130 training pipeline during its previous conversion from fighter jets.
“So when I left for pilot training in 2013, we had F-15s on the ramp,” Lalonde said. “About a year and a half later, when I got back, we had C-130s on the ramp.”
Now, the wing is preparing for another change.
Lalonde said the incoming C-130J Super Hercules brings upgraded communications and technology, along with more room for cargo and troops.
“It flies faster, further, higher, and just more efficiently,” he said.
The change also affects the people operating and maintaining the aircraft, as the J model does not have the same flight engineer and navigator positions used on the H model. Lalonde explained some airmen in those roles have since retired or moved into different jobs. He said a few had been selected for pilot training.
Aircrews and maintenance personnel are also undergoing training for the newer aircraft.
The wing’s three remaining H models are scheduled to leave by the end of October, with their replacements expected in spring 2027, according to Lalonde.
During that gap, crews will maintain their skills through simulator training and flights aboard aircraft from other Air National Guard units, including units visiting Great Falls.
But leaving Montana doesn't mean the work is finished.
One of the wing’s former C-130s is now a ground trainer at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. Its flying days are over, but it will help prepare new airmen for their own careers.
“So everybody that goes through basic training at Lackland Air Force Base now will actually be training on a Montana C-130, which is kind of cool,” Lalonde said.
