Beverly Herd Exercise Tests Readiness at Osan

By Air Force Staff Sgt. Alex Echols, 51st Fighter Wing

OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea, Sept. 18, 2017 — Base officials here have initiated Exercise Beverly Herd 17-3, evaluating Team Osan's ability to "Fight Tonight" through realistic scenario simulations.

During the exercise, which runs through Sept. 22, base personnel will demonstrate their ability to navigate conventional and unconventional attack scenarios while launching and recovering aircraft during 24-hour flying operations testing the base's readiness and response against any adversary, officials said.

"The Mustangs are proving we do much more than survive. We thrive in these conditions," said Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Philip B. Hudson, 51st Fighter Wing command chief master sergeant. "'Fight Tonight' is not a platitude for the 51st Fighter Wing Mustangs. We maintain a constant, high state of combat readiness, and these quarterly exercises provide the opportunity to showcase our fighting abilities."

Exercise participants defend and recover the base from ground opposition forces, as well as mortar and missile attacks, while wearing protective posture gear to prove they also can protect themselves from chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear agents that might be present during a real attack.

Real Threat

"The threat is as real as it ever has been," said Air Force Lt. Col. Timothy J. Fryar, 51st Civil Engineer Squadron commander and 51st Fighter Wing Emergency Operations Center director. "It is extremely important that we exercise on a continual basis, something we have been doing since the armistice of 1953."

With the large personnel rotation that comes from Osan's summer permanent-change-of-station season, the training and evaluation from Beverly Herd 17-3 is imperative to ensure everyone knows their role and can work together seamlessly in times of crisis, Fryar said.

"With new personnel and the ever changing threat environment, routine exercise is a must," he added. "New and old commanders alike need to understand the limitations of our readiness, and every individual needs to understand their operating environment. The ultimate goal would be for all to come away from this exercise understanding how critical each and every one of them are to the success of our mission."