ST.PAUL, Minn. – A Minnesota Army Guard detachment left for Colombia on a nine-month deployment with its C-12 transport plane to support a U.S. counter-drug mission. The six-member crew is from the St.Paul-based 245th Army Aviation Regiment. After a departure ceremony the detachment took off in its twin-turboprop C-12 Huron to begin operations out of Bogota. To get there is as a 3,000-mile journey. In Colombia the C-12 will transport passengers and cargo as part of the counter-drug project. For the Minnesota crew, the exercise is a high-altitude test. Bogota is 8,600 above seas level.
C-12 Huron. A modified Beech Super King. Weight: 7,800 pounds. Max speed 330 mph. Range : 1,800 miles.