57th Weapons Squadron 'Thugs' honor the 'Godfather' Published April 1, 2008 By Lt. Col. Walter C. Daniels II 57th Weapons Squadron commander MCGUIRE AFB, N.J. -- The men and women to the 57th Weapons Squadron paid tribute to the "Godfather" of the Modern Loadmaster March 15 in an awards ceremony held in Bordentown, N.J. The 57th WPS, a geographically-separated unit of the USAF Weapons School at Nellis AFB, Nev., is a tenant unit at McGuire AFB, N.J., operating four C-17A Globemaster IIIs under the "Thug" call sign. The unit trains pilots for the C-17 Weapons Instructor Course and upon successful completion, the graduates become U.S. Air Force Weapons Officers. Saturday night they held their first Loadmaster and Support Awards Ceremony at the Farnsworth House in Bordentown, N.J. Awards presented include Outstanding Support for Weapons Instructor Course 2007B, and the Venturini Award for Class 2007B. Toward the end of the five and a half month course, students nominate instructor pilots for awards including Outstanding Overall Instructor, Outstanding Academic Instructor and Outstanding Flight Instructor. Class 2007B, the ninth class to graduate, also nominated an Outstanding Support Individual and Outstanding Loadmaster. In order to pay tribute to the loadmaster corps, the loadmasters of the 57th WPS, led by Master Sgt. Phillip "Pete" Moss, requested to name the award in honor of Master Sgt. (ret) Ted Venturini. In the spirit of always going the extra mile to ensure the job is done right, the students of C-17 WIC class 07B selected Tech. Sgt. Brian Chewning as the first recipient of the Ted Venturini Spirit Award. Mr. Venturini was first dubbed the "Godfather" in an Airman Magazine article written in September 1994. His flying career began as an Air Force aircraft mechanic in 1956. Over the years, he cross-trained to be a loadmaster, upgraded to test loadmaster and culminated as the McDonnell Douglas Test Loadmaster for the C-17 program flying on the maiden flight Sept. 15 1991. According to the many stories shared by Mr. Venturini, the C-17A is his life's passion, much like that of the pilots and loadmasters of the 57th WPS. He took designs, lessons learned and experiences he gained while flying on the C-133B, C-130, C-141, C-5A, YC-14 and YC-15 to make the C-17A into the capable weapons system it is today. In his heart of hearts he believes, like most C-17A crewmembers, that the cargo compartment is the business end of the aircraft. In the 1970's he began advocating using technology and design to allow a single loadmaster to handle the vast cargo of a modern airlifter, an opinion criticized by peers and engineers. As he relayed in numerous stories throughout the night, the "business end" of the C-17 was dreamed of, designed and built over the course of three decades. From adapting a hydraulic winch in the 1970s, to redesigning the troop doors for personnel airdrop operations in the 1980s, to demonstrating the safety of the thrust reverser's design in providing the capability of engine running on and off loads his tireless dedication to excellence is one reason the C-17 is so capable today. Mr. Venturini went where no other loadmaster was previously invited: engineering meetings, wind tunnel testing and distinguished visitor plant tours - always offering practicality to complex engineering designs. Through these meetings he was able to recommend redesign of the wing root of the aircraft, allowing a constant dimension in the cargo compartment and the ultimate capability to load standard U.S. Army equipment. His participation in early wind tunnel testing and observation of the tumbling of static lines fabricated from yarn to simulate jumpers in the slipstream of the aircraft, led him to recommend increasing the height of the troop door air deflectors. If uncorrected, the tumbling would result in injured jumpers, unacceptable to Mr. Venturini.