Category: US Indo Pacific Command

Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

KUNSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea  –  

8th Fighter Wing Airmen and F-16 assets honed agile combat employment capabilities, conducting an out-and-back mission with the 18th Wing at Kadena Air Base, Jan 18.

For the mission, six F-16 Fighting Falcons, pilots from the 35th Fighter Squadron and a team of 11 multi-capable Airmen from the 35th Fighter Generation Squadron, worked with 18th Wing maintainers to set up hot pit refueling operations that ensured jets can quickly get refueled and back into international airspace.

Although training agile airpower deployment can look different for the units throughout the Air Force, the core goal remains to increase survivability and maneuverability while generating air power with a small contingent of Airmen and limited resources.

“ACE means learning how to operate without all the support assets or capabilities that one may traditionally have,” said Capt. Shaun Silk, 35th Fighter Squadron flight lead. “This mission made us practice and plan for all the contingencies that come with operating outside of our comfort zones… in new airspace, at a different base… while also challenging our ability to decentralize command and control from afar by all means available.”

Practicing ACE operations with nearby partners has become a priority for the Wolf Pack, exercising integrated capabilities and boosting interoperability across core functions to ensure the unit is agile enough to outpace adversarial actions.

“This quick out-and-back showed our mission planning abilities and the F-16s combat radius by carrying 1000 lbs. of munitions 600 nautical miles into the Pacific” said Silk. “Our pilots and maintainers got to practice off-station contingency operating procedures, utlimatly preparing them for the challenges that could arise in unfamiliar environments and ensuring were agile enough to operate from various locations.”

The 35th FGS’ small maintenance team focused on the retrieval and refueling of the mission’s F-16s; conducting hot pit refueling operations, where the jet is refueled while the engine is running to minimize the amount of time spent on the ground.

“Us refuling the jets here on the ground at Kadena, demonstrated our ability to take the fight anywhere in the Indo-Pacific area of responsibility and to go out and complete missions even further than that if needed,” said Tech. Sgt. Tillman Reeves, 35th FGS flight line expediter.

For most Airmen sent to support the mission, it was their first time in an operation that tested their ability to adapt to changing conditions and locations. This mission gave them first-hand experience on what to expect and how to handle similar taskings.

Reeves spoke on lessons learned and some of the challenges they faced once they landed at Kadena AB.

“The biggest challenge during the out-and-back was communication with both Kadena and Kunsan, and keeping track of the aircraft locations,” said Reeves. “That challenge and the fact that this was the first ACE mission for some of our Airmen, are going to be good and valuable experiences for them to look back on in the future.”

Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea  –  

On the ice-cold tarmac of Camp Humphreys’ Desiderio Army Airfield, a CH-47 Chinook helicopter landed, while inside seven Soldiers staged themselves as mock victims of a crash, kicking off the second quarter pre-accident drill, Jan 23, 2024.

The call came out over the radio, and moments later, U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys emergency responders were en route to the scene, but since they were responding to an exercise, lights flashed but their sirens were quiet.

“Emergency response teams conduct individual training on a regular basis, but these events give us the opportunity to synchronize our training in a complect collective exercise,” said U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Ryan Chambers, airfield safety officer.

To provide added realism, the exercise coordinators used smoke machines. Inside the helicopter, the mock victims feigned injury, crying for help as the firetrucks closed in on the scene. The firefighters mobilized, with a team grabbing the water line, while others assessed the situation and readied a triage area, complete with stretchers.

“Realism is absolutely vital for this type of event,” said Chambers, who hails from Parker, Colo. “These exercises allow us to introduce new scenarios to try to diversify and maximize the training as much as possible for all players involved.”

Once the exercise evaluators determined that the firefighters’ actions would have extinguished any fire, had there actually been one, the emergency personnel moved to the helicopter to evacuate the Soldiers. Each of the Soldiers had instructions detailing their mock injuries, but the emergency responders had to determine what was wrong and the proper way to safely remove them from the aircraft. While some could walk, other Soldiers had to pretend they had significant injuries, including broken bones and internal bleeding, forcing the emergency medical technicians to employ back and neck braces before carrying mock patients to the triage area.

“These exercises give us an opportunity to validate and refine our current procedures to make sure that we’re the most effective and efficient as possible to respond to any real-world incident,” said Chambers.

Although several days had gone into preparing the scenario, the exercise was over in less than an hour. In just a few months, the airfield safety team will be back to the drawing board creating another scenario to test Camp Humphreys’ ability to respond to an airfield emergency.