Team McChord C-17s deliver Army firepower

by Jake Chappelle
446th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

2/7/2014 - MCCHORD FIELD, Wash. -- Reserve and active-duty C-17 Globemaster III aircrews from Team McChord provided strategic airlift for Soldiers from the 17th Fire Brigade to Fort Hunter-Liggett, Calif., to conduct live-fire exercises Jan. 31 to Feb. 5.

The 446th and 62nd Airlift Wing crewmembers transported the 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment's High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems and their operators to Hunter-Liggett, so the Soldiers could execute the field firing segments of Operation Thunderbolt II.

"As a wing, the biggest thing we took away from [the mission] was the opportunity to work with our sister service at [JBLM - Lewis Main]," said Capt. Patrick Hancock, 446th AW chief of Weapons and Tactics, who served as the operation's lead planner. "This training is crucial, as it's a part of our basic mission set, and provides continuity for future 446th Airmen."

Operation Thunderbolt II validated the C-17 aircraft as a delivery platform for 5-3 FA global operations, said Hancock, who's contributed to several joint-training missions with the Army.

Completing the operation was also imperative to an exercise the 75th Ranger Regiment conducted on the ground, Hancock said. The Rangers needed the 5-3 FA to complete the artillery firing portion of the mission, so the Rangers could accomplish theirs.

As lead planner, Hancock ensured as many possible details he could imagine were covered by organizing with leads from each participating agency, and making sure he had solutions for the potential contingencies, he said. A major piece of the coordination was figuring out ways to alleviate the issues or get rid of them completely.

"The biggest advantage the 446th brings to the fight is experience," Hancock, who joined the wing in 2005, said. "We have some of the most experienced pilots and loadmasters at JBLM, which allows them to be flexible in case the mission doesn't go according to plan."

Hancock also said the mission provided a great opportunity for some younger and newer 446th AW aircrew members to gain rare and valuable experience.

"This is as close to real world training as you get," he said. "Many aircrew members hadn't worked in this type of high-operations tempo with the fire brigade. Also, many of the aircrew had never conducted operations on a semi-prepared runway [dirt landing strip]."

Organizing inter-department exercises, like Operation Thunderbolt II, are like putting together a complex puzzle, Hancock said. Every piece has a specific and unique purpose, and it's up to the planners to know the capabilities each bring to the table--to optimize their effectiveness.

"This mission is probably one of the most joint missions we've accomplished as Joint Base Lewis-McChord," he said. "All together we had 24 JBLM units that participated--which further proved we're one team--one fight."