Reservists arrive in Uruguay for exercise

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Chance Babin
  • 926th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
PUNTA DEL ESTE, Uruguay (AFPN) --  A team of Air Force reservists from the 5th Special Operations Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., arrived here Nov. 9 for Unitas 2004, the largest and longest naval exercise in the Americas.

Arriving aboard an MC-130P Combat Shadow, they are the Air Force’s first unit to participate in the exercise, which began Nov. 3 in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Besides the Air Force, the exercise incorporates ships, aircraft and submarines from Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Spain and the United States. More than 2,000 people are participating in the Unitas Atlantic Phase. Uruguay is supporting the operation with approximately 550 people.

“This is a unique opportunity for the Air Force Reserve Command and Air Force Special Operations Command to work hand in hand with our South American partners and the United States Navy in securing southern hemisphere defense,” said Maj. Jeff Berry, 5th SOS mission commander.

The 5th SOS was activated for two years immediately following Sept. 11, 2001, and has been working in Afghanistan and Southwest Asia, so getting to work in a different area has been a good change for the unit.

“Usually we’ve been going to the desert, so coming down south is something we don’t get to do very often,” Major Berry said. “I feel like we are paving new roads coming down here. It’s great training, and it lays the groundwork for future operations in the region.”

The team of 23 reservists will be conducting special operations for the exercise and providing real-world search and rescue with a Combat Shadow aircraft for the last five days of Unitas.

“Our purpose is to provide integration between Air Force special ops and the Navy in an international environment,” said Maj. Dave Condit, a 5th SOS navigator.

For the U.S. Navy, the arrival of the Air Force is a sign of the changing times.

“It is very important that we move away from a maritime Unitas exercise to a more joint exercise,” said Rear Adm. Vinson E. Smith, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command. “Having the Air Force here moves us more to jointness. It’s important because it’s helping move us further in a direction of interoperability, not only from a maritime perspective, but from a joint perspective.”

The Air Force’s presence is also being noted by the host nation, as the Uruguayan navy fleet commander spoke about the joint aspect of this operation as being the strength of this exercise.

“The Air Force will participate in maritime operations, and this participation is very important because, more than a combined operation, it is a joint operation, and joint operations are the operations of the future,” said Rear Admiral Oscar Debali, the Uruguayan navy fleet commander. “The more we work with these types of exercises, the better the results will be. This is a good challenge to have in the exercise because our country is involved in many international operations involving the United Nations.”