Devil Raiders showcase collective agility with partner units in Bamboo Eagle 24-3

Photo By Capt. Stephanie Squires | Senior Airman Kenneth Wright, 521st Contingency Response Squadron Aircraft Maintenance Journeyman, prepares to marshal a C-17 Globemaster III during Exercise Bamboo Eagle 24-3 August 8 on Edwards Air Force Base, California. During Bamboo Eagle, Mobility Air Force assets will support warfighters implementing all-domain combat-power generation from disaggregated basing locations throughout the western part of the United States, along with distributed command and control, agile logistics, and tactical air-to-air refueling. (U.S. Air Force photo by Capt. Stephanie Squires)  

JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, NEW JERSEY, UNITED STATES

08.20.2024

Story by Capt. Stephanie Squires 

621st Contingency Response Wing

More than 100 airmen from the 621st Contingency Response Wing participated in Exercise Bamboo Eagle 24-3, July 27 to August 10 in various locations within California and Hawaii.

“With the objective of preparing our warfighters for a high-end conflict across a tyranny of distance, the CRW is fitting into that with its concept of being light, lean, and lethal,” said Maj. Chris Gingerelli, 621st Contingency Response Support Squadron director of operations. “We are putting that concept to the test with the CR’s participation in this iteration of Bamboo Eagle. We deployed with the least amount of personnel and equipment to essentially support four geographically separated locations (hub and three spokes) at once.”

While the overall exercise lasted five days, the wing arrived before the rest of the units to support multiple “spoke” locations. These locations supported Mission Generation Force Elements, or components of an Air Tasking Force which provides essential combat power for deployment. Utilizing small Contingency Support Element teams, the 621 CRW was able to provide security, maintenance, communications, aerial port support and more that was tailored to the needs of the exercise commander.

“Bamboo Eagle 24-3 highlighted the necessity of collective agility across Air Mobility Command and Air Combat Command to accomplish dynamic mission sets across multiple displaced geographic locations,” said Maj. Jacob Draszkiewicz, 521st Contingency Response Squadron element commander for the exercise. “The 521 CRE and its ability to quickly generate and dynamically task CSEs was pivotal to ensuring the expeditionary wing was able to rapidly employ its MGFEs. This small team of airmen could be tailored to a specific need and support mobility airlift operations to quickly move materials and equipment from hub to spokes.”
The objective of exercises with speed and scale is to demonstrate the Department of the Air Force preparedness for complex, large-scale military operations, demonstrating the ability to operate in a contested, dynamic environment against high end threats on short notice.

“Overall, the exercise went well, and the team did a phenomenal job in driving the mission while working through delays and unexpected problems throughout the exercise,” said Draszkiewicz. “There were many lessons learned but I’m proud of how our airmen integrated with the expeditionary wing and their ACC counterparts.”

• Date Taken: 08.20.2024
• Date Posted: 08.21.2024 09:11
• Story ID: 479097
• Location: JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, NEW JERSEY, US