Photo By Alexander Rector | A United States Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter crewed by members of...... read more read more
More than 100 U.S. servicemembers from the United States special operations community traveled to Fort Drum, NY for exercise Jaded Thunder, Sep. 9-18, 2024.
Jaded Thunder is a joint combined arms live-fire exercise designed to strengthen joint air command and control, fire support architecture, and procedures to ensure the integration and interoperability of joint forces.
During the exercise 10 different airframes flown by the United States Air Force, Army, and Marines, conducted more than 180 sorties and expended more than 43,000 munitions.
"Jaded Thunder reinforces mission capability and operational relationships between conventional service and special operations components in unique training environments and support locations, such as Fort Drum’s ranges supported by the Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield’s operational and logistical resources,” said Col. Roderic Butz, the 1st Joint Special Operations Air Component Commander. “The combined effort involved in the military exercise serves to establish a foundation from which conventional and special operations components can achieve future joint military operational success."
The 174th Attack Wing, which operates the Adirondack air-to-ground gunnery range at Fort Drum, NY provided critical support to the exercise allowing our joint and international partners to train effectively for the conflicts of tomorrow.
“Hosting this exercise at the Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield and utilizing the Fort Drum range complex allows the 174th Attack Wing to showcase our unique capabilities and provide world-class training opportunities,” said Col. Brett Batick, the 174th Attack Wing deputy commander. “Our airspace and impact range complexes are the best on the east coast.”
The Adirondack air-to-ground gunnery range is an essential training complex for the Air National Guard, as it is the only aerial bombing range on the East coast that allows the dropping of high explosive (HE) munitions. Allowing pilots to drop HE provides realistic training that ensures aircrews are mission ready.
Joining the U.S. troops in the training exercise, were contingents of foreign servicemembers from Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.
While facilitating the training at the Adirondack Range, the hardworking Airmen of the 174th Attack Wing strived to ensure the safety of all the numerous training partners.
“Up in the tower, there are three positions, the range safety officer, who is mainly listening to comms with range control on Fort Drum and other ranges around us that are shooting artillery,” said April Neibacher, a logistics noncommissioned officer assigned to the Adirondack range. “The other position is the operations officer, who listening to the JTACs or ground parties that are located on our range. They're there to assist the range control officer, which is the third position. The range control officer is there for safety of flight. He's controlling the aircraft, listening to the munitions being dropped, and they're all up there to make sure everything's being dropped on the correct targets and everyone's safe.”
In addition to the range complex, New York Air National Guard Airmen assigned to the 174th Maintenance Group’s forward operating location (FOL) at Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield, supported the exercise by refueling and performing maintenance support for the numerous airframes participating in the event.
“The services we provide with range-control, threat environments, and one-of-a-kind ability to service multiple air platforms at our Forward Operating Location are unmatched,” said Batick. “The Airmen that provide them are truly multi-capable.”
The 174th Attack Wing is one of five wings that make up the New York Air National Guard. The wing is headquartered at Hancock Field Air National Guard base in Syracuse, NY and operates the MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft.
| Date Taken: | 09.18.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 11.14.2024 17:47 |
| Story ID: | 485313 |
| Location: | FORT DRUM, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 86 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 174th Attack Wing Supports Joint Exercise Jaded Thunder, by Alexander Rector, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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