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JBSA News
NEWS | June 19, 2018

Lone Star Warriors hone joint skills across JBSA skies

By Col. Kjäll Gopaul Air Force Personnel Operations Activity

In a dramatic demonstration of joint, total force teaming, more than 200 San Antonio-based service members pushed the exercise envelope as part of Operation Lone Star Vigilance, moving 16 tons of vital relief supplies by helicopter, answering seven time-sensitive calls for medical evacuation, and extracting six downed aircrews caught behind enemy lines.

 

Spearheaded by Company C, 2-149 Aviation, of the Texas Army National Guard at Martindale Army Airfield, Airmen and Soldiers from the Reserve, active duty and National Guard flawlessly executed two weeks of high-octane planning and training that sharpened their warfighting skills to a razor-sharp edge. With masterfully integrated support from the 433rd Airlift Wing’s two aerial port squadrons, Air Force Personnel Operations Activity, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, and 502nd Security Forces Group, the multi-service missions saw the successful completion of aerial reconnaissance, sling loading of cargo, MEDEVAC hoists, personnel recovery and the simultaneous operation of multiple helicopter landing zones.

 

The aerial reconnaissance mission on June 9 provided the planning team with a vital operational perspective of the key training sites at JBSA-Camp Bullis for the scheduled events. Tech. Sgt. Wade Harp, 26th Aerial Port Squadron special handling supervisor, served as the ground team’s NCO in charge, and flew with the air mission commander and the pathfinder for the critical overflight and touchdown surveys.

 

“The pathfinder team and I had established and marked the touchdown points earlier in the day,” Harp said. “The reconnaissance flight verified the TDP marking panels were well-placed and that the landing zones would work for the Black Hawks - important steps to ensure our missions were productive and safe.”

 

The second mission of sling loading on June 10 saw the movement of 32,000 pounds of cargo by helicopter at JBSA-Camp Bullis. The scenario had a team of aerial porters receive air-dropped relief supplies, then re-rig the humanitarian aid for the Soldiers’ pin point emplacement in an otherwise inaccessible location. In a masterfully orchestrated display of military precision, the Guardsmen from C/2-149 Aviation deftly piloted the five-ton UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters above the Reservists from the 433rd Airlift Wing. Combining their training with nerves of steel, the ground team nimbly hooked each load of cargo to the steadily flown aircraft and witnessed its departure from the landing zone.

 

The air mission commander, Chief Warrant Officer 2 John Thresher, C/2-149 Aviation instructor-pilot, offering the aviator’s perspective, said the added realism of training with the Airmen was invaluable.

 

“At home-station training, we may have to simulate external unit actions,” Thresher said. “With a live hook-up team under the aircraft, it increases the stress level. This keeps you focused on the task while highlighting the importance of maintaining your situational awareness.”

 

Thresher elaborated that the realism and numerous iterations enhance his unit’s ability to support the state of Texas for Hurricane Harvey-like rescues, ferrying water buckets for firefighting, or responding to flash floods.

 

Offering her ground perspective, Staff Sgt. Thea Lau, 26th APS aerial porter, said, “It is an incredible experience. The rehearsals are important to master the basics, but it’s different when you’re there with the rotor wash blasting against you, the incredible noise, and that imposing helicopter slowly swooping in, then staying just a few feet above your head. You really have to use your training and stay sharp. Now I have knowledge and experience about joint capabilities that I can use for other missions.”

 

As aerial porters, the members of the 26th APS can be deployed anywhere cargo needs to be moved with all branches of the military.

 

“We need to be proficient in fixed-wing and rotary-wing cargo movement tasks, and be able to work with the Army, Navy and others,” said Harp. “This exercise really brings it all together for our 2T2s (aerial porters). During the mission, our proficiency showed. As the pace of the sling loads increased, we kept up for all 16 loads.”

 

The third mission of hoist medical evacuation saw seven iterations as an active-duty pathfinder team called in 9-line MEDEVAC requests to the awaiting MEDEVAC helicopters to rescue personnel from the top of Butte Hill on JBSA-Camp Bullis.

 

Army Sgt. Shannon Baumann, C/2-149 Aviation crew chief, described the scenario: “We actually practiced quite a bit of the hoist training in Kosovo previously, and so it was a great refresher on everything. For this exercise, we would pick up a medic from the ground, circle around and then lower the medic by hoist down to the top of the hill. The medic would then triage two patients, having one hoist up with the Sked (litter basket), and then hoist the live patient with the Strop (rescue chair). In these live situations, you rely on your training to pay attention so you don’t get distracted.”

 

She also noted that training with another unit was an excellent opportunity.

 

“There is a lot of value added by working with new people,” Baumann said. “There’s always a different experience to learn from. It’s been an adventure for me; I’ve enjoyed doing this.”

 

Company C, 2-149 Aviation aeromedical evacuation unit’s primary mission is to provide enroute care to the ground forces commander.

 

“Training with the 26th Aerial Port Squadron gave us the value of coordinating with a ground force commander that is packaging the patient, controlling the landing zone, calling the crews in and popping smoke for wind speed and direction,” Army Capt. Samuel Scallon, commander of Company C, 2-149 Aviation, said. “That interaction really took the training value to the next level, rather than just having to simulate those portions. Eventually, our field training exercises will advance to company-level collective tasks with the ability to self-deploy, occupy a forward area and establish operations. These missions also afforded certification for one warrant officer on sling load tasks, and re-qualification on hoist tasks for seven of his unit’s medics.”

 

Operation Lone Star Vigilance’s capstone event on June 15 was a personnel recovery mission on JBSA-Camp Bullis, in which Soldiers of C/2-149 Aviation conducted dismounted movement from a downed aircraft, through dense woods, to a link-up point behind contested lines.

 

Airmen from JBSA’s 502nd SFG role-played as opportunistic allies, authenticating a challenge and password with the downed aircrew, providing a temporary “hide site,” and facilitating the extraction of 36 Soldiers and an embedded combat cameraman by helicopter.

 

Tech. Sgt. Hector Santiago, Senior Airman Bradley Morgan and Senior Airman Joshua Reeves from the 502nd SFG all noted that the exercise scenario was definitely a change from their normal activities.

 

“It was good that we were able to help the aircrews train on their tasks,” said Reves. I’d like to attend Air Assault School; and establishing a landing zone, working around the Black Hawks and flying were beneficial in honing my tactical skills as a defender.”

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Blake Arrington, aviation mission survivability officer and personnel recovery officer, Company C, 2-149 Aviation, explained the importance of the field exercise.

 

"The PR training is very important, since our aircrews don't practice this as often as other tasks,” Arrington said. “The planning challenge is to create a sense of realism for the isolated Soldiers, especially their reaction to the enemy as they find themselves with PR equipment that they carry often, and now must actually put to use."

 

Arrington emphasized that the training is continuously being improved to prepare the aircrew members to save their own lives.

 

"As future PR exercises increase the stress level, there are more emotionally significant events, so that the training stays with them,” he continued. “Consequently, their actions downrange will be more instinctual and less reactive. This is important, since those actions will occur in what could potentially be their last moments of freedom, and the best response will make all the difference."

 

Chief Master Sgt. Mark Foreman, incoming 26th APS chief enlisted manager, underscored the strategic value of Operation Lone Star Vigilance for his unit.

 

“Internally, the missions allowed both of the wing’s aerial port squadrons to train together on less-frequently exercised tasks,” Foreman said. “Teaming with the Texas Army National Guard for sling loads twice in the past seven months sharpens those expeditionary skills. You know, every opportunity for multi-service interaction in a field environment is good for our junior service members to help them understand the larger joint operating arena, and how they fit within it. As well, at the organizational leadership level, it strengthens our inter service relationships and seamlessly integrating the Guard, Reserve, and active-duty components demonstrates how incredibly capable our military is.”