JOINT BASE LEWIS MCCHORD, Wash. -- Mobility Airmen and the U.S. Army trained on enemy evasion and cargo supply delivery within hostile areas during exercise Rainier War here Dec. 7.
The 62nd Airlift Wing hosted the semi-annual, large-formation exercise, which included other Joint Base Lewis-McChord partners such as the Army’s 51st Expeditionary Signal Battalion, 7th Infantry Division and the U.S. Air Force Reserve’s 446th AW. The scenarios used in the exercise closely mimic current real-world events that aircrews could potentially encounter in hostile and friendly areas.
Teaming up with the Army in this exercise provided added time restraints that aircrews needed to plan for, said Capt. Wade Hetrick, 62nd Operations Support Squadron director of wing tactics.
“It also meant we had to get many other base agencies involved, which made this a total base exercise, instead of just an Operations Group exercise,” added Hetrick, the lead Air Force planner and instructor of record for the exercise.
The exercise was a parallel operation, with three C-17 Globemaster IIIs transporting the 51st ESB to Ft. Huachuca, Arizona, as well as a six-ship formation of C-17s, which re-supplied 7th ID soldiers at Rainier Drop Zone and the airfield at Moses Lake, both treated as hostile areas in Washington.
Immediately after airdropping supplies to troops at Rainier Drop Zone, and then delivering equipment to Moses Lake via air-land operations, the focus turned to Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. In the scenario, Mountain Home was an abandoned airfield in friendly territory that had to be taken over and reinforced before the quickly encroaching enemy insurgents could get to it.
“It was very challenging to lead a large formation,” said Capt. Ashley Deming, 7th Airlift Squadron chief executive officer, who was acting as the student mission commander for the six-ship airdrop formation. “Flying that fast and low and maintaining formation integrity, avoiding popup threats, and safely guiding the formation away from those threats can be really challenging.”
After the exercise was complete, Deming reflected on what she was able to take away from the exercise.
“I have a better understanding of how to manage a dynamic mission and how to plan for dealing with contingencies when things don’t go as planned.”