Editing Lockheed HC-130 (section)

==Operational history==

===U.S. Coast Guard operations===
[[File:USCG C130 Hercules.jpg|thumb|right|USCG HC-130J]]
[[File:Helicopter aerial refueling.jpg|thumb|One of the [[920th Rescue Wing]]'s HC-130P Hercules "Combat King" aircraft refuels one of the wing's [[HH-60G Pave Hawk]] helicopters.]]

The [[United States Coast Guard]] operates 18 HC-130H aircraft from three bases around the United States:<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.overview.uscg.mil/Assets/ |access-date=7 August 2018 |title=Operational Assets |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180228101221/http://www.overview.uscg.mil/Assets/ |archive-date=28 February 2018 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>

* [[Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater|CGAS Clearwater]], Florida
* [[Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak|CGAS Kodiak]], Alaska
* [[Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point|CGAS Barbers Point]] (formerly [[NAS Barbers Point]]), Hawaii<ref name=uscg2>{{cite web | title =HC-130 "Hercules" Long Range Surveillance Aircraft | work =Aircraft and Cutters | publisher =U.S. Coast Guard | date =16 February 2007 | url =http://www.uscg.mil/datasheet/hc-130.asp | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20061229000509/http://www.uscg.mil/datasheet/hc-130.asp | url-status =dead | archive-date =29 December 2006 | access-date =1 August 2007 }}</ref>

These aircraft are used for search and rescue, enforcement of laws and treaties, illegal drug interdiction, marine environmental protection, military readiness, International Ice Patrol missions, as well as cargo and personnel transport.<ref name=uscg1/>

The [[United States Coast Guard|Coast Guard]] also currently operates an additional 9 HC-130J aircraft from [[Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City|CGAS Elizabeth City]], North Carolina.

Neither the HC-130H nor the HC-130J in their U.S. Coast Guard variants are equipped for the aerial refueling of helicopters.

===U.S. Air Force operations===
The HC-130P (to include HC-130P/N) is primarily based on the C-130E airlift aircraft, with a smaller number based on the C-130H.  The USAF HC-130J is a newly manufactured aircraft.  As the dedicated [[Fixed-wing aircraft|fixed-wing]] combat search and rescue platform in the USAF inventory, the HC-130 is operated by the following units:

* [[Air Combat Command]]
** [[347th Rescue Group]] (347 RQG), [[71st Rescue Squadron]] (71 RQS), [[Moody AFB]], Georgia – HC-130J
** [[563d Rescue Group]] (563 RQG), [[79th Rescue Squadron]] (79 RQS), [[Davis-Monthan AFB]], Arizona – HC-130J
* [[Air Education and Training Command]]
** [[58th Special Operations Wing]] (58 SOW), [[415th Special Operations Squadron]] (415 SOS), [[Kirtland AFB]], New Mexico  –  HC-130J
* [[Air Force Reserve Command]]
** [[920th Rescue Wing]] (920 RQW), [[39th Rescue Squadron]] (39 RQS), [[Patrick Space Force Base]], Florida – HC-130J
* [[Air National Guard]]
** [[106th Rescue Wing]] (106 RQW), [[102d Rescue Squadron]] (102 RQS), [[New York Air National Guard]], [[Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base]], New York – HC-130J
** [[129th Rescue Wing]] (129 RQW), [[130th Rescue Squadron]] (130 RQS), [[California Air National Guard]], [[Moffett Federal Airfield]], California – HC-130J
** [[176th Wing]] (176 WG), [[211th Rescue Squadron]] (211 RQS), [[Alaska Air National Guard]], [[Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson]], Alaska – HC-130J

HC-130s were assigned to the [[Air Combat Command]] (ACC) from 1992 to 2003, to include those [[Air Force Reserve Command]] and [[Air National Guard]] rescue units operationally-gained by ACC.  Prior to 1992, they were assigned to the [[Air Rescue Service]] as part of [[Military Airlift Command]] (MAC).  In October 2003, operational responsibility for the [[Continental United States]] (CONUS) and Alaskan [[Search and rescue|air search and rescue]] (SAR) mission, as well as the worldwide combat search and rescue (CSAR) mission was transferred to the [[Air Force Special Operations Command]] (AFSOC) at [[Hurlburt Field]], Florida.

In October 2006, all USAF CSAR forces were reassigned back to [[Air Combat Command]] with the exception of those [[Alaska Air National Guard]] CSAR assets which were transferred to the operational claimancy of [[Pacific Air Forces]] ([[PACAF]]).  The CONUS and Alaska SAR missions were also transferred back to ACC and PACAF, respectively. However, the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC) that had been previously located at [[McClellan Air Force Base]], California and [[Scott Air Force Base]], [[Illinois]] under MAC and at [[Langley Air Force Base]], Virginia under ACC, was relocated to [[Tyndall Air Force Base]], Florida under the control of [[1st Air Force]] (1 AF), the USAF component command to [[U.S. Northern Command]] ([[USNORTHCOM]]) and ACC's numbered air force for the [[Air National Guard]].

While under AFSOC and since returning to ACC and PACAF, USAF, AFRC and ANG HC-130s have been deployed to Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Jordan, Uzbekistan, Djibouti, Iraq, Afghanistan,<ref>http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2010/04/airforce_bastion_hc130_042310/ {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}</ref> and Greece in support of [[Operation Southern Watch|Operations Southern]] and [[Operation Northern Watch|Northern Watch]], [[1999 NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Operation Allied Force]], [[Operation Enduring Freedom]], [[2003 invasion of Iraq|Operation Iraqi Freedom]], and [[Operation Unified Protector]]. HC-130s also support continuous alert commitments in [[Alaska]], and provided rescue coverage for [[NASA]] [[Space Shuttle]] operations in Florida until that program's termination in 2011.

The USAF's first HC-130Js gained initial operating capability (IOC) in April 2013,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bga-aeroweb.com/Defense/HC-130J-Combat-King-II.html|title = AeroWeb &#124; HC-130J Combat King II}}</ref> permitting retirement of the first group of HC-130P aircraft based on C-130E airframes that were built in the mid and late 1960s.<ref>{{Cite web |date=8 April 2020 |title=Lockheed reveals USAF's first HC-130J tanker |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/picture-lockheed-reveals-usafs-first-hc-130j-tanker/92815.article |access-date=8 August 2024 |website=FlightGlobal}}</ref> The first HC-130J was delivered by Lockheed Martin to [[Air Combat Command]] on 23 September 2010 for testing.<ref name="lockheedmartin.com"/>

In 2009, there were HC-130P aircraft operated by the [[Air National Guard]], and 10 by the [[Air Force Reserve Command]].<ref>{{cite web |title=HC-130P/N King |url=https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104509/hc-130pn-king/ |access-date=8 August 2024 |website=U.S. Air Force}}</ref> As of 2019, unofficial estimates place the number of HC-130Ps remaining at 6 airframes, all assigned to Air Force Reserve Command.<ref>{{cite web |title=Last Alaska Air Guard HC-130N aircraft departs for Patrick AFB |url=http://www.c-130.net/c-130-news-article363.html |website=C-130.net}}</ref>

===World's longest turboprop aircraft distance record===
On 20 February 1972, Lieutenant Colonel Edgar Allison, USAF, and his flight crew set a recognized turboprop aircraft class record of {{convert|8732.09|mi|km}} for a great circle distance without landing. The USAF Lockheed HC-130H was flown from [[Ching Chuan Kang Air Base]], Republic of China (Taiwan), to [[Scott AFB]], Illinois in the United States. As of 2018, this record still stands more than 40 years later.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.7af.pacaf.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-150217-065.pdf |title=This Week in History: 15 February to 21 February |access-date=10 May 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518103518/http://www.7af.pacaf.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-150217-065.pdf |archive-date=18 May 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=United States Air Force Chronology |url=http://www.hill.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id%3D5829 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130911033032/http://www.hill.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=5829 |archive-date=11 September 2013 |access-date=14 April 2016 |website=[[Hill Air Force Base]] (af.mil)}}</ref>