LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. -- The 19th Airlift Wing held its first major exercise of 2021, successfully executing a no-notice Phase 1 ROCKI exercise, Jan. 12-13.
Designed to validate the full spectrum readiness capabilities of the airlift wing, ROCKI exercises are typically divided into three distinct phases, each deliberately intended to assess the wing in various warfighting functions.
The ROCKI 21-01 exercise consisted of Phase 1 operations, which specifically tested the wing’s ability to assemble, assess and deploy nearly 300 personnel to a simulated combat environment in less than 48 hours.
This included the completion of a handful of “just-in-time” expeditionary requirements such as weapons qualification and hands-on Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) training as well as medical screening and processing.
In addition to the traditional challenges of these wing-wide evaluations, exercise planners were also tasked with implementing a comprehensive COVID-19 mitigation strategy.
“Given the volatility of our security environment in the midst of the ongoing pandemic, it is imperative that we continue to aggressively prepare our Airmen for the full spectrum of military conflict and remain ready to respond at a moment’s notice,” said Col. John Schutte, 19th Airlift Wing commander. “The primary objective of this exercise was to validate our ability to rapidly and safely project combat airlift within a COVID-contaminated environment.”
The Phase 1 portion of ROCKI 21-01 serves as a building block toward executing a Phase 1-3 full spectrum readiness exercise later this year. COVID-19 threat conditions permitting, the full-scale exercise will be used to demonstrate the ability to deploy forces as a Lead Wing into a Combat Readiness Training Center, to open and operate from an expeditionary hub within a contested environment.
“For close to a year now, through disciplined execution and prudent risk-informed decision making, we have demonstrated our ability to survive, operate, and even thrive with the virus in our midst,” said Schutte. “We must remain focused on increasing our capacity to rapidly project and sustain agile combat airlift in any contested environment, while ensuring that the Airmen we are entrusted to lead are educated, trained, and prepared to face a peer-to-peer adversary.”