AF rapid response unit enhances their skills during Patriot Sands

A C-17 Globemaster III is prepared for departure during training exercise Patriot Sands Feb. 17, 2016, at Hunter Army Airfield, Ga. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Senior Airman Jonathan Lane)

By Senior Airman Jonathan Lane, 315th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

HUNTER ARMY AIRFIELD, Ga. (AFNS) -- The distinct sound of helicopters hovering, mixed with the roar of jet engines and automatic weapons fire from a nearby range, filled the air on a cool, sunny day in southeast Georgia.

Members from the 315th Airlift Wing’s Airlift Control Flight (ALCF) took part in Patriot Sands, a training exercise that kicked off Feb. 17 at Hunter Army Airfield.

The exercise incorporated the resources of several ALCF units, as well as affiliate agencies such as the FBI’s Rapid Response Team and the Coast Guard Maritime Security Response Team.

ALCF is a rapid response unit comprised of experienced airlift and operations team members. This includes Airmen from nine Air Force career fields, who manage, coordinate and control air mobility assets in austere locations under combat conditions. Unit members are ready to deploy to any part of the world in 36 hours.

“Exercises like Patriot Sands are essential to our mission,” said Maj. John Ramsey, the 315th ALCF commander. “The pilots get to experience heavier loads than they normally do. The aerial porters get to work away from their home station, which helps them develop their skills. The loadmasters get operational experience with rolling stock, which isn’t normal to their everyday mission. And finally, we get the chance to practice and train on our mission set, which is setting up an airfield where we are able to handle the command and control of aircraft.”

For 315th ALCF members, the exercise started at Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina, where they loaded a C-17 Globemaster III, piloted by a crew from the 317th Airlift Squadron, and flew to Hunter AF.

“This type of training is an excellent example of how we stay mission ready and mission focused,” said Col. Caroline Evernham, the 315th Operations Group commander. “The ALCF works hard with their affiliates to ensure they are trained and ready to prepare their equipment for transport at any time. The efficiencies gained from this week's training will help us when we really need it."

One of the main items loaded onto the C-17 for the training was a large, tan-in-color container -- a hardside expandable light air mobility shelter (HELAMS).

The HELAMS, once set in its desired location, transforms from a plain box to a fully expanded and functional command and control center with doors, windows and electricity. This workspace is then used to house the communications equipment and gear needed for ALCF’s operational readiness.

Other than the hands-on training that ALCF receives from setting up their equipment during the exercise, team members also benefit from the affiliate agencies that they have partnered with to accomplish their training objectives.

“We make sure that the sister services and Department of Defense affiliates are current and ready for a real-world missions,” said Master Sgt. Mark Schmidt, 315th ALCF Operations NCO in charge.

ALCF teaches the FBI and other affiliate agencies to properly prepare their equipment for air mobility, Schmidt said. This includes the standardization of weighing, fueling, packing, cleaning, inspecting and sorting of their equipment so that it’s ready to load when the aircraft gets on station.

Patriot Sands is an annual Air Force Reserve Command exercise for ALCF to train in accordance with their designed operational capability mission statement to deploy as a contingency response element. The exercise is scheduled to last for five days.

Air Force Reserve Command Units Perform Critical Missions

By Jian DeLeon, Emerging Media, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON - Three Air Force Reserve Command units with very different capabilities dedicated to special missions were the subject of a "DOD Live" bloggers roundtable yesterday.

Maj. Gen. James T. Rubeor, commander of 22nd Air Force at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga., discussed those capabilities along with three officers whose work turns capabilities into action.

Air Force Lt. Col. Jonathan Talbot, chief meteorologist with the 53rd Weather Squadron at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., explained how the squadron's Hurricane Hunters' mission benefits both civilians and the military.

"We're the guys that fly through the hurricanes collecting information for the National Hurricane Center during the summer months, and we collect information also for the National Weather Service during the winter months," he said.

Air Force Lt. Col. Dave Condit of the 302nd Airlift Wing in Colorado Springs, Colo., runs the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Program.

"Our primary task is to work with the National Interagency Fire Center to help augment the commercial tanker force in times of need and natural disaster," he explained. "Really, our primary objective is to lay lines of fire retardant down in front of advancing wildfire to protect lives and property."

Of the three special-missions capabilities, the Modular Airborne Spray System is the most versatile, and also the one with the most loosely defined mission, said Air Force Capt. Travis Adams of the 757th Airlift Squadron in Youngstown, Ohio. Adams, a pilot, also works as one of the coordinators of the aerial spray shop. The squadron's primary mission, he said, is to protect troops on the ground in a variety of ways.

"We are the only fixed-wing aerial spray asset within the Department of Defense," he said. "I think that has a lot to do with why we are maybe a little less known."

One of the squadron's missions is to protect troops from airborne diseases caused by flying insects, especially mosquitoes.

"Before battling the airborne insects, we [also] have the opportunity to do so while they're still in the larvae stage," he explained. We have quite a few missions that will support that as well." His team also helps to protect explosive ordnance disposal personnel, he added, by using chemicals to defoliate areas where EOD personnel need to take care of unexploded ordnance so they can do so safely.

During the recent Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the spray mission was used to spread dispersant in the ocean, and since the unit trains on some missions with the Coast Guard, Adams said, that facilitated the process.

A recent Air Force Reserve Command conference to assess training and look toward the future of its missions was the first of its kind, Rubeor said. He added that he's satisfied with the current state of the command, but knows it must keep looking ahead.

"We looked to the future and we tried to predict what the future will bring," he said. "We talked about some potential future upgrades."

"This is a mission in which we fly and collect data for the National Weather Service or the National Center for Environmental Prediction," Talbot said. "The idea here is to be able to give emergency managers and folks that are worried about flooding or heavy snowfall events a little more time to potentially prepare or a little more heads-up that possibly a societal impact may occur during the winter months."

The Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Program will see better, more efficient equipment that it plans to test in the coming seasons.

"We've been delivered some new systems by the U.S. Forest Service, ... so we're going to begin training with those this spring to ensure that our crews are ready with that increased capability," Condit said. "And that includes the ability to respond a little quicker, with a little bit of a different type of products that we can put on the fire for more flexibility."

Rubeor saluted the people that perform these special missions.

"These three gentlemen represent wings that are manned and staffed with citizen-airmen. ... They have jobs down in their local communities, Monday through Friday, and they come out on the weekends, or they come out when we're called to perform these missions," the general said.

Hurricane Hunters Track Felcia

The Air Force Reserve's Hurricane Hunters flew out of Hawaii's Hickam Air Force Base into former Hurricane Felicia.

Total force keeps air mobility in the fight

by 1st Lt. Justin Brockhoff, 618th Tanker Airlift Control Center Public Affairs

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (AFNS) -- Airmen of the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve have sustained the hub for directing global airlift, air refueling and aeromedical evacuation operations since the onset of operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom here.

The 618th Tanker Airlift Control Center manages a daily average of 900 point-to-point flights, called sorties, in support of worldwide mobility operations ranging from humanitarian assistance to combat airdrops.

Approximately 20 percent of the center's 700 personnel that work to fulfill the planning, scheduling and management of those missions come from Guard or Reserve backgrounds.

"Guardsmen and reservists are a vital part of the mobility air force, including here in the TACC," said Col. Steve Goodwin, the senior Air National Guard member in the 618th TACC, and Guard adviser to Maj. Gen. Mark S. Solo, the 618th TACC commander. "We're all part of the same team, working on the same mission, and we're proud to do it."

Many of those missions include direct support of operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, supplying U.S. and coalition troops with the food, equipment and supplies required to sustain military presence in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.

Other operations supported by the 618th TACC staff include providing command and control oversight for humanitarian missions, such as in mid-January when 618th TACC personnel managed missions that moved equipment into the Darfur region of Sudan in support of United Nations and African Union peacekeeping missions.

"The person that planned the C-17 (Globemaster III) missions that supported the Darfur movements is a guardsman on voluntary orders with the 618th TACC," Colonel Goodwin said. "Our (Air Reserve Component) integration here is seamless."

While a limited number of guardsmen and reservists worked in the 618th TACC prior to Sept. 11, 2001, their presence as volunteers has significantly increased to support the significant requirements for airlift, air refueling and aeromedical evacuation missions needed to execute Air Mobility Command's current global operations.

The high level of global movement coordinated by the 618th TACC means that a sortie is scheduled to takeoff or land somewhere around the world every 90 seconds. This fact drives the need for the 618th TACC staff to operate 24 hours a day, which places an even greater emphasis on the requirement for experienced aircrew members, maintainers, and transporters to manage those missions from the ground.

"The experience that guardsmen and reservists bring to the table is invaluable," said Col. Kurt Peterson, the Reserve adviser to the 618th TACC commander, who has worked in the 618th TACC since its activation in 1992. "A typical active-duty member will move every three or four years, while reservists and guardsmen can remain associated with a unit for 10 years or longer. This long-term investment creates unparalleled continuity within an organization and pays huge dividends in retaining the expertise needed to execute the mission."

In fact, when you walk throughout the 618th TACC, many times it's the Guard and Reserve personnel demonstrating a practice or procedure to the active-duty members new to the TACC, because of that expertise and knowledge they've developed over their career.

"The most remarkable thing about the Guard and Reserve members in the 618th TACC is that each one is a volunteer, who has sought out the opportunity to serve," Colonel Peterson said. "Looking back on my 27 years with the Air Force, I couldn't be more honored to be part of this team."