Photo By Airman 1st Class Edward Yankus | U.S. Air Force Airmen with the 721st Contingency Response Squadron rig a towing bar to...... read more read more
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KADENA AIR BASE, Japan – Airmen from the 721st Contingency Response Squadron, Travis Air Force Base, Calif. visited Kadena Air Base, Japan on a mission-ready airmen event to become more experienced with the HH-60W, on Sept. 23, 2024.
During their visit, they got hands-on experience and lessons from 33rd Rescue Squadron crew chiefs which aligned itself with the U.S. Air Force’s effort to create faster Mission Ready Airmen.
The two-week exercise focused on validating the 721st CRS Airmen on their ability to execute rapid recovery, quick-turn maintenance, and refueling while also focusing on MRA capabilities such as developing people, developing capabilities, generating readiness, and projecting power to ensure dominance across all warfighting domains.
“We wanted our Airmen to have an avenue to recieve more training with aircraft they are unfamiliar with,” said U.S. Air Force Tech Sgt. Douglas Wheeler, 721st CRS maintenance section chief. “Having our Airmen get hands-on instruction with the 33rd RQS crew chiefs who have maintained and worked with the HH-60W for years on multiple deployments is a great opportunity.”
Hosting training for not just Kadena Airmen but for those assigned to other bases enables faster operations on the flight line, which in turn gets more missions done and aircraft off the ground.
“We recently created this program here at Kadena, ” said U.S. Air Force Tech Sgt. Waylon Garman, 718th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, HH-60W craftsman. “It’s a very easy process to teach Airmen who aren't necessarily super familiar with the HH-60W but other airframes to train them on these here, where we're already training our own Airmen on the new processes for these aircraft.”
Practicing MRA operations has become a priority for the Air Force, exercising integrated capabilities and boosting interoperability across core functions to ensure the unit is agile enough to outpace adversarial actions.
“Mission Ready Airmen are trained in skills outside of their normal career field to support the objectives within a contingency environment,” said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Xiong Lee, 721st CRS unit training manager. “The MRA mindset is about providing a capability, not just a specific functionality, and this thinking prepares all Airmen with the ability to rise to the challenges of a pacing threat.”
| Date Taken: | 10.02.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.07.2024 21:04 |
| Story ID: | 482490 |
| Location: | KADENA AIR BASE, OKINAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 14 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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