From Feb. 4–23, 2024, Col. Edward Schierberl, 910th Airlift Wing deputy wing commander, served as the wing commander for the 374th Air Expeditionary Wing, one of three expeditionary wings co-located at Guam, during the Cope North 24 exercise.
“I oversaw all mobility forces and medical evacuation forces for the exercise,” said Schierberl. “My wing had 18 entities (squadrons) with 18 aircraft within it, to include airlift and air refueling capabilities.”
Cope North was a multinational aviation training exercise. Schierberl led U.S Air Force Airmen and members of the Royal Australian Air Force and Japanese Air Self-Defense Force. Additionally, he collaborated with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps, as well as troops from France, Republic of Korea and Canada during the exercise.
“As we were learning about their air forces, they were learning about ours,” said Schierberl. “I don’t think people realize that our Air Force Reserve is larger than some air forces and even ministries of defenses across the world, which is humbling to know what we bring to the fight.”
Using his extensive military and civilian leadership experience to work agile combat employment, or ACE, into day-to-day operations, Schierberl readied his Reserve Citizen Airmen for potential peer or near-peer conflicts alongside coalition partners.
“I loved going out into the field and seeing multi-capable Airmen doing their job across the Indo-Pacific region,” said Schierberl. “They got to learn more about the landscape and how to precisely maneuver our forces.”
Schierberl’s key takeaways are to make time for your Airmen and to seek real-world opportunities like Cope North to stay Reserve-ready for tomorrow’s fight.
Date Taken: | 04.03.2024 |
Date Posted: | 04.03.2024 13:00 |
Story ID: | 467673 |
Location: | ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, GU |
Web Views: | 69 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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