Travis trains in Colorado: 60th AMW, 621st CRW join forces with Army to load, unload aircraft

by Senior Airman Madelyn Brown
60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs

1/24/2014 - TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The mountainous terrain of Colorado Springs, comparable to the terrain aircrew in Afghanistan maneuver through daily, provided a realistic training ground for a joint-service exercise Jan. 13 to 17 involving Travis Airmen and Soldiers from the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team 4th Infantry Division.

The exercise was designed to provide a realistic environment and scenario for Airmen and Soldiers to train from the perspectives of flying, command post set up and heavy equipment load and offload during contingency operations.

The command and control portion of the training involved the set up of a mobile command post by Airmen from the 570th and 571st Contingency Response Groups. A mobile command post is essential to setting up operations at unfamiliar airfields anywhere in the world.

Before the CRG Airmen could set up their mobile command post communications, pilots of the 21st Airlift Squadron focused on heavy weight, high pressure altitude spot landings, aerial refueling and tactical ingress and egress into airfields surrounded by high terrain, said Capt. Chad Sanford, 21st AS chief of combat operations and tactics.

Once landed, the 21st AS loadmasters partnered with the Army for training on unloading and loading unique heavy equipment utilized by the Soldiers of the 3rd and 4th Brigade in support of the Army's global response force.

"We were able to provide valuable training to less experienced loadmasters in the loading and offloading of equipment such as the M1 Abrams tank, M2 Bradleys, M88 Improved Recovery Vehicle as well as UH-60 Blackhawks," said Tech. Sgt. Michael Turner, 60th Operation Support Squadron.

For many of the approximately 300 Soldiers, this training was their first exposure to loading and unloading their equipment to aircraft, Sanford said.

By the end of the week, the impact of the training was made evident by a final trial.

According to Turner, the Travis Airmen were able to load all 133,600 pounds of the M1A Abrams Tank, which is equipment rarely seen by the 21st AS loadmasters. Once loaded the Soldiers were tasked to use their tie-down training and secure the tank to the aircraft. Starting from when the vehicle was put into drive to when the last chain was secured, the total time for the exercise was 31 minutes.

"The greatest benefit to this Joint Service Operation was knowing that both services benefitted from this training," Turner said. "Our loadmasters received cargo load training that is rarely seen on operation missions and the Army received rare training in cargo loading and tie-down operations."

For Sanford, the joint service exercises are essential to overcoming the barriers between the services and to ensuring the success of future military contingency operations.

"The scenarios practiced in this exercise closely resemble the current fight in Operation Enduring Freedom from a pilot perspective," Sanford said. "The ability to work together and function at a high level to accomplish something as small as a weeklong operation will benefit the services as a whole when executing larger more challenging real world operations,"