Photo By Staff Sgt. Katherine Jacobus | A German Air Force pilot from the Bundeswehr’s Air Transport Wing 62 listens to a...... read more read more
PEORIA, Ill. — The Illinois Air National Guard’s 182nd Airlift Wing is hosting the German Air Force for Exercise Proptoberfest, a cross-country interoperability training mission, Sept. 3 to 14, 2024.
The collaboration, which aims to reinforce the existing alliance between the two NATO nations and further advance its joint interoperability, kicked off at the 182nd Airlift Wing, Peoria, Illinois, on Sept. 3, 2024.
The 182nd Airlift Wing’s C-130H Hercules aircraft will fly formations with Bundeswehr’s Air Transport Wing 62's A400M Atlas aircraft and conduct airlift and airdrop training across Illinois, Arizona, Colorado and California throughout the duration of the exercise. The team-up is part of the U.S. initiative to develop warfighting capabilities between allies by exchanging perspectives, competencies and advantages.
“A lot of us are trained as NATO partners to train very similar patterns, but to come here, what you're learning is just working with people…communicating and working together, to find out how they plan different missions, how they handle different threats, and are there other ways to look at this from a different perspective,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Rusty Ballard, 182nd Airlift Wing Commander, Illinois Air National Guard.
Exercise Proptoberfest came to be after the 182nd’s highly successful collaboration with the German Air Force in Germany’s Air Defender 23 exercise in June 2023, the largest deployment exercise of air forces in NATO's history. This initiative gives both American and German forces an opportunity to train in a diverse variety of tactical scenarios and terrains, made possible by traveling across the United States.
“We are also teaching them different techniques here…so we will come back with more qualified pilots and a lot of experience to share with the other pilots in Germany,” said German Air Force Lt. Col. Dimitri Wilk, 2nd Squadron Deputy Squadron Commander, Bundeswehr Air Transport Wing 62.
The exercise includes a low-level desert flying course in Arizona, a high-density altitude mountain flying course in Colorado, and personnel drops in California. The variety of terrains and training provides Exercise Proptoberfest participants with increased knowledge and interoperability capabilities among themselves and NATO partners.
| Date Taken: | 09.04.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 09.06.2024 14:40 |
| Story ID: | 480203 |
| Location: | PEORIA, ILLINOIS, US |
| Web Views: | 142 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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