JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Members from the 315th Airlift Wing from here participated in the Air Force Reserve Command’s largest mobility-centric exercise in the command’s history in August, which took place at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin.
The exercise, Patriot Reach – which was also the 315th Airlift Control Flight’s biggest in history – featured the 315th ALCF, the 38th and 81st Aerial Port Squadrons, with additional help from the 560th Red Horse Squadron and 437th Aerial Port Squadron’s special handling section.
The units partnered with the Army Reserve’s 414th Chemical Company and the 415th Chemical Brigade based here in South Carolina transporting Army personnel and equipment as part of the Army’s annual training exercise, Red Dragon.
“The Army needed more training and opportunities to move their cargo; how to load and deploy with their equipment,” said Col. Caroline Evernham, the 315th AW Operations Group Commander. “It really is great training for everyone from our aircrews, our airlift control flight and really great for the Army.”
“When the Army does have to deploy, they’ll know the process and be more prepared to put their equipment and vehicles on our aircraft when we are getting ready to go to war,” she said.
Maj. Michael Bennett – Patriot Reach lead planner and mobility planner with the AFRC Force Generation Center – said that the exercise was originally created as an act of proof of concept.
The exercise allowed Wing leadership to put on display their units’ deployment capabilities and allow them to engage in a joint theatre-level operation, he said.
“Once units sign up, they are thrust into the planning process and their training goals are then scripted into the exercise, making sure that each of their training requirements are met,” Bennett said.
Bennett – a 13-year-veteran of the Air Force and six-year-veteran of the Army National Guard – said that the exercise brought training flexibility for both sides.
“Commanders had the ability to choose the pace of their training that allowed them to work through tasks slowly or in a challenging, simulated combat environment.”
Patriot Reach highlighted the Air Force Reserve’s air drop and air-land global reach capabilities, tasking the C-17 Globemaster III, the C-130 Hercules, the C-5M Super Galaxy aircraft and their crews with critical training missions in support of the Army’s operations during their Red Dragon exercise.
In addition to the aircraft and their crews, the 38th and 81st Aerial Port Squadrons we’re key in conducting joint inspections with the Army’s 414th Chemical Company and the 415th Chemical Brigade, preparing the movement of equipment, Bennett said.
Another critical unit was the 315th ALCF.
THE KEY TO SUCCESS
Bennett said that the tactical planning for the exercise was led by the ALCF.
Their ability to do the job was crucial to the success of all of the units that participated in the exercise, he said.
315th ALCF loadmaster Eric Walker said that working and training in the joint environment and coordinating the movement of Army personnel and equipment was critical to real-world applications of what the ALCF does.
It allowed them to test their capabilities to make air mobility and the 315th Airlift Wing’s mission of providing and delivering combat-ready C-17 airlift possible.
“Our big part in the exercise was command and control of the deployment and redeployment of forces,” he said. “Aircraft came in and we supported the arrival of the Army personnel, as well as facilitating their redeployment, which included joint inspections and actual airlift back to their home station.”
Walker – 24-year-veteran of the Air Force Reserve and a current affiliation program manager in the Reserve – said that he has spent five years with the ALCF and that partnership training with forces such as the Army is beneficial to everyone.
“In this exercise we coordinated and helped move lots of personnel, cargo and other equipment in support of the Army,” he said. “This allowed the Army to continue their needed airlift training and it helped bolster our mission, and that keeps us all sharp.”
Bennett said that the exercise was not originally intended to be as large scale as it turned out to be.
“I was directed to keep the scope fairly small due to it only being a proof of concept for future exercises,” he said. “However, momentum grew as the partnership between the Air Force and the Army Reserve grew stronger.”
“In comparison to exercise Patriot Warrior, which was the previous largest exercise where we moved 800,000 pounds of cargo and equipment, we moved a lot more.” Bennett said. “With Patriot Reach we moved almost 2.9 million pounds of cargo and equipment; that’s more than three and a half times more than we did with Patriot Warrior.”
Operations Group Commander Col. Evernham said that she was proud of the accomplishments the 315th AW had achieved during the exercise.
She said that the men and women who serve in the 315th AW are truly the ones who make the 315th AW the Reserve Commands wing of choice when it comes to moving that much cargo and being ready for any operation, anytime, anywhere.
“The 315th units did an incredible job,” she said. “The maintenance units got our planes off the ground and we had on-time takeoffs with superb support from the aerial ports.”
“We had great support from the flying squadrons as well,” she said. “We had lots of C-17’s flying several missions a week making sure the mission happened, and of course the ALCF. The 315th really came together and did a great job.”