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U.S., international mobility Airmen to participate in JRTC exercise

  • Published
  • By Bekah Clark
  • Air Mobility Command Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  U.S. and international mobility Airmen will come together Aug. 17 to 25 to participate in a Joint Readiness Training Center exercise with the Army at Fort Polk, La.

Members of the 621st Contingency Response Wing from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.; aeromedical evacuation crews from Pope AFB, N.C., MacDill AFB, Fla., Lackland AFB, Texas; and March Air Reserve Base, Calif.; and aircrews from Hickam AFB, Hawaii, Belgium and Canada will directly support 5,000 Army troops "deployed" to an austere environment at Fort Polk. Their task is to provide airlift and airdrop capabilities, aeromedical evacuation, and bare-base set up and operations.

The exercise, being coordinated with the help of Air Mobility Command Operations directorate and 34th Combat Training Squadron from Little Rock AFB, Ark., gives mobility forces the opportunity to train side-by-side with sister services. The exercise also allows training with coalition partners in realistic exercise contingency environments before deployments.

"Our goal is to give aircrews their first five combat missions in as realistic an environment as possible, before their first deployment," said Lt. Col. Derek Waterman, director of operations for the 34th CTS.

Air Mobility Command teams with international allies to establish and maintain mobility partnerships. Training and fighting with joint and coalition partners is key to operational success.

On a typical day, mobility forces around the globe fly more than 900 sorties and move nearly 2,000 tons of cargo and more than 6,000 passengers. This equates to a mobility aircraft departure every two minutes, or less, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. 

(Editor's note: According to their fact sheet, the Joint Readiness Training Center is focused on improving unit readiness by providing highly realistic, stressful, joint and combined arms training across the full spectrum of conflict (current and future). The JRTC is one of the U.S. Army's three "Dirt" Combat Training Centers resourced to train infantry brigade task forces and their subordinate elements in the Joint Contemporary Operational Environment.  With great emphasis on realism, the JRTC provides rotational units with the opportunity to conduct joint operations which emphasize contingency force missions. The JRTC training scenario is based on each participating organization's mission essential tasks list and many of the exercises are mission rehearsals for actual operations the organization is scheduled to conduct. JRTC scenarios allow complete integration of Air Force and other military services as well as host-nation and civilian role players. The exercise scenarios replicates many of the unique situations and challenges a unit may face to include host national officials and citizens, insurgents and terrorists, news media coverage, and non-governmental organizations.)