Airmen aid largest movement of paratroopers in decades

  • Published
  • By Capt. Paradon Silpasornprasit
  • 615th Contingency Response Wing Public Affairs
ALEXANDRIA, La. (AFNS) --  Civilian passengers catching connecting flights in and out of the Alexandria International Airport in Louisiana couldn't help but notice a massive formation of military cargo aircraft sharing their airspace.

Beginning at dusk, nearly 30 cargo aircraft descended on the airport Oct. 18 as part of a Joint Readiness Training Center exercise. Members of the 615th Contingency Response Wing helped facilitate the influx of air traffic and a team of 113 CRW Airmen aided in moving 1,700 paratroopers and more than 70 tons of equipment during the massive training event.

C-130 Hercules and C-17 Globemaster III cargo planes lumbered along the tarmac transporting Army paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg, N.C., skyward for the exercise -- the largest movement of paratroopers seen in more than a decade. Day and night, aircrews provided the moving platforms from which the paratroopers jumped during the week's maneuvers.

"We worked very efficiently," said Airman 1st Class Christopher Tolleson, a 570th Global Mobility Squadron aerial porter. "With that many planes, you have to put your best foot forward because there is very little room for error."

The role of the 615th CRW Airmen was to manage airfield operations, oversee air traffic and the loading and unloading of passengers and cargo while ensuring the flying and jump missions continued unimpeded, even by darkness and bad weather.

"This training opportunity is realistic, difficult and essential to honing joint-combat power," said 19th Airlift Wing commander Col. Michael Minihan. "Our success was a team effort. Active-duty, Reserve, Air National Guard, contingency response and special-ops Airmen put forth a max effort and were simply a joy to watch in action. The joint team deserves our best effort every day; this (operation) is proof."

The Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La., hosted the exercise, with the goal to provide a realistic training environment for Airmen and Soldiers who may be called upon to rapidly respond to an air mobility contingency together -- an increasingly common occurrence for today's expeditionary military forces.

"This airborne assault to begin this JRTC exercise displayed the joint capabilities between airborne forces and the airlift (air mobility) forces," said 570th Contingency Response Group commander Col. David Chandler. "The scale of this operation has not been seen in many years. This operation demonstrated true joint training and capability to respond when and where our nation needs."

The exercise included launching 29 aircraft from Dyess, Keesler and Little Rock Air Force bases, assembling the jumpers and aircraft on the ground at a civilian airport, providing marshalling, landing and command and control support by the contingency response group, and the support provided by the community of Alexandria. Airmen from the 621st CRW from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., also took part in the exercise.

"The Army and Air Force were in lockstep on this one," Colonel Chandler said.