Airmen unite for Exercise Tropic Thunder

Photo By Tech. Sgt. Heather Salazar | Exercise TROPIC THUNDER 2017 group photo. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Heather Redman)  

HAWAII, UNITED STATES

05.01.2017

Story by 2nd Lt. Elizabeth Andreas-Feeney 

624th Regional Support Group

JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii – More than 100 Airmen from four major commands across Oahu converged on Wheeler Army Airfield, April 17–20 to participate in Exercise Tropic Thunder 2017 (XTT17).

The four-day exercise is a two-part, full-spectrum readiness exercise hosted by the 15th Wing to test the individual, organizational and expeditionary readiness of the Airmen stationed at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

The Airmen, who came from 15 Air Force specialties, were mobilized from various units throughout the U.S. Pacific Air Forces, 515th Air Mobility Operations Wing, the 624th Regional Support Group, and the 154th Wing.

In line with 15th Wing Commander, Col. Kevin Gordon’s “Year of Readiness,” partners across the Wing focused on “Fight Tonight” scenarios in 2017, which enable wings to pivot to wartime training, showcasing their readiness skills and abilities.

Col. Cavan Craddock, 15th Wing vice commander, was tasked as the exercise deployment commander.

“The 15th Wing and our partners at Team Hickam decided we really needed to focus on readiness,” said Craddock. “We chose to get away from the mindset of the individual augmentee readiness and back to the unit readiness, preparing should we have to fight tonight.”

The multi-faceted exercise tested the Airmen’s ability to prepare and deploy to a bare-base location, coordinating the smallest details and logistics to ensure the safety and security of Air Force resources in austere and hazardous environments.

The exercise kicked off April 17 after simulated deployment orders were tasked out, enabling command and control operations to launch and develop plans to move personnel and equipment to an expeditionary airfield. From there, supplies and equipment were packed, and Airmen were moved through a mobility line. After arriving to Wheeler Army Airfield, the Airmen were tasked with performing their specialized expeditionary tasks, ranging from setting up a Single Pallet Expeditionary Kitchen to feed service members quickly, to practicing individual Self Aid Buddy Care or litter carry techniques.

Forward deploying to Wheeler Army Airfield, which until November 1991 was an Air Force base, was poignant. The men and women who occupied that space for two days worked on historical land, for it was from that airfield 75 years ago that Airmen took off and defended our nation against Japanese aircraft, ultimately succeeding in scoring one of the first American victories of World War II.

The exercise prepared local forces for deployment, but also built relationships among units that may not get opportunities to work alongside each other often. It also offered Airmen opportunities to tap into the established depth of experience that the different components possess, subsequently identifying information voids and sharing that knowledge across the Wing.

“One of the benefits of being on a base like Hickam is that you have five large component organizations, four of which are participating in this exercise,” said Lt. Col. David Jeske, inspector general for the 624th Regional Support Group. “It’s very difficult for any of us to operate alone in today’s modern environment, but together we can move mountains. By bringing different pieces of each of organization together, you garner the best experience and some of the best capability of each.”

According to Jeske, no exercise is without its hitches, but XTT17 was successful because it tested the rapid mass deployment and expeditionary capabilities of our joint forces and equipment in preparation for a real-world event. Beyond that, it allowed forces to highlight the areas that worked, with the ultimate goal of evolving and modernizing critical areas of defense to protect the United States.

“I think it was a fantastic exercise,” said Craddock. “We really focused on the readiness of the Wings, on individual readiness, organizational readiness, and deployed readiness.”

Jeske said that this is why many Airmen join the military - to deploy and protect the country from those who threaten its freedom.

“This is what I joined to do,” said Jeske. “We’re given an opportunity to demonstrate our wartime skills, and there’s a great sense of accomplishment and reward in that.”

• Date Taken: 05.01.2017
• Date Posted: 05.01.2017 19:22
• Story ID: 232185
• Location: HAWAII, US