POPE ARMY AIRFIELD, N.C. -- Battalion Mass Tactical Week (BMTW) 26-01 occurred at Pope Army Airfield from Dec. 1-5, 2025. During the exercise, Air Force members worked with Army counterparts to accomplish various trainings and certifications to ensure their readiness and bolster warfighters’ lethality.
BMTWs are a brand of mobility exercise led at the behest of Air Mobility Command (AMC) and are a mainstay at Pope. The events, usually accomplished quarterly, have a heavy focus of perfecting the interoperability between the Air Force units and Army forces from the 82nd Airborne Division.
“BMTW is large-scale joint military exercise where U.S. Army and Air Force units train together to refine airborne operations, tactical airlift, and rapid global mobility,” said Maj. Michael Totty, 49th Combat Training Squadron assistant director of operations and BMTW exercise director. “For the Air Force more broadly, these exercises reinforce its role as the nation’s global force provider, capable of not only reaching across continents, but also working hand-in-hand with joint and coalition partners.”
“In short, BMTWs are more than training; they are proofs of concept that the Air Force can deliver Joint force effects, anywhere and anytime, with precision and speed,” he summarized.
During this iteration of BMTW, members of Team Pope stood up Task Force Gryphon – an AMC operational element, primarily led by the 43rd Air Mobility Operations Group (AMOG). This element is a unique, multi-functional Air Force unit that provides rapid global mobility, logistical support, and force projection for the 82nd ABN and XVIII Airborne Corps based at Fort Bragg.
“The inclusion of Task Force Gryphon into Battalion Mass Tactical Week was deliberate. It allowed the 43rd AMOG to exercise its ability to rapidly deploy the Immediate Response Force (IRF) directly from Pope Army Airfield to anywhere in the world. Because of this, the 43rd AMOG was able to assess its speed, precision, and scalability in projecting and sustaining the Joint Force - critical parts of AMC’s mission.” Lt. Col. Jonathan Lewczyk, 49th CTS director of operations
Task Force Gryphon is a mechanism that is usually reserved for large-scale global events where a centralized hub for disseminating information and deployment of military assets is paramount for the success of the mission. This was demonstrated in support of Isreal after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks where Task Force Gryphon deployed the 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade in response to the Israel-Hamas crisis by launching 78 aircraft, processing 900 joint forces and loading 6 million pounds of cargo.
The ability to conduct massive feats in a little to no-notice fashion requires repetition and perpetual readiness. Events like BMTW aid in the validation of processes and partnerships and solidify interoperability between airlift crews, ground forces and command elements to ensure the IRF projects seamless support of national objective. In addition to codifying the capability of making an impact on a worldwide scale, BMTW also dials into a granular and operational levels of core readiness competencies. Pope and the 43rd AMOG afford visiting units such as the 344th Air Refueling Squadron (ARS) from McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., and the 41st Airlift Squadron (AS) from Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark., a training area to certify teams of Airmen on the Air Force Force Generation (AFFORGEN) cycle for deployment requirements. The 49th CTS works with these units to ensure the framework of the exercise meets the specific training needs for various aircrew and airframes.
“Receiving these certifications is critical because it formally validates a unit’s readiness to enter the [AFFORGEN] cycle and provide combat-credible capabilities to the Joint Force,” Lewczyk emphasized. “For the 344th ARS and the 41st AS, these certifications demonstrate that aircrews, maintainers, and support personnel can execute their mission sets under realistic, demanding conditions. In essence, certification is the Air Force’s assurance that these units are fully prepared to deploy, sustain operations, and deliver the necessary effects in combat.”
Although smaller in scale, BMTWs lead into larger exercises of the same species of mobility exercises such as Storm Flag. The similar construct of these training opportunities lend to a crawl, walk, run approach for safeguarding the readiness of Airmen.
“By design, BMTWs replicate the tempo, scale, and joint integration that Airmen will encounter in those higher end events, but in a controlled environment that allows units to refine their skills and validate readiness,” Totty said. “The training accomplished here, whether it’s AFFORGEN readiness checks, joint airdrop operations, or aeromedical evacuation drills, ensures that crews are not just qualified, but also technically proficient and confident in their ability to operate under pressure.”
“The benefit of BMTW is that it bridges the gap between routine local training and larger exercises like Storm Flags,” he added. “It gives Airmen the chance to stress-test processes, strengthen interoperability with Army and allied partners, and rehearse rapid deployment scenarios before stepping into Storm Flag’s larger and more demanding construct.”
Fulfilling the more localized need for training at Pope, BMTW has an added benefit of not needing to fit into such stringent of a training design like Storm Flag or exercises similar in scope. Training injects can be introduced or removed in real-time while being observed by the 49th CTS and Inspector Generals. This provides an added level of realism to scenarios where the needs of the mission may not adhere to traditional training situations.
“The ability to ramp up or taper down the intensity of BMTW is what makes it such a powerful and realistic training environment,” Totty elaborated. “Mission demands in the real world are never static. Sometimes crews must execute under extreme pressure with compressed timelines, while other scenarios require deliberate, methodical coordination. By adjusting the exercise’s intensity, we mirror that operational reality, giving Airmen the chance to experience both ends of the spectrum.”
As member of Team Pope finished the training event, the finalizing of planning and execution of the next BMTW looms at the forefront of their minds. The reoccurring exercise package, unique to Pope, enters an assessing and standby posture until the next time.
“For the airlift community, this exercise is more than practice; it’s a readiness accelerator. It ensures crews are not only technically proficient, but also mentally agile, capable of responding to the unpredictable demands of the global mobility mission,” Totty concluded. “By validating processes, strengthening interoperability, and sharpening decision-making in a realistic setting, BMTW directly enhances AMC’s ability to be responsive to the needs of its airlift crews; giving them the confidence, experience, and certification to deliver when the nation calls.”