Serbian, U.S. Paratroopers Conduct Bilateral Double Eagle Exercise

STUTTGART, Germany, Nov. 13, 2017 — At the invitation of the Serbian government, U.S. Army paratroopers from the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, will conduct a bilateral Serbian and U.S. airborne exercise this week.

Exercise Double Eagle begins tomorrow and runs through Nov. 17 at Batajnica Airfield, Serbia.

Double Eagle is designed to enhance U.S. and Serbian relationships, foster areas of mutual interest and contribute to regional security and peace, U.S. European Command officials said.

Improving Cooperation and Dialogue

About 100 service members from the 173rd Airborne Brigade and two C-130J's and their aircrews from the 86th Airlift Wing based at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, will participate in the exercise. In addition to extensive joint military training, service members will exchange jump wings as a token of the joint cooperation, officials said.

The 173rd Airborne Brigade is the Army's contingency response force in Europe and provides rapidly deployable forces to the U.S. Army Europe area of responsibility.

NATO and Serbia have steadily improved cooperation and dialogue since the country joined the Partnership for Peace program and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council in 2006. Serbia signed its individual partnership action plan with NATO in 2015.

Three-Carrier Strike Force Conducts Exercise in Western Pacific

By Lisa Ferdinando DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Nov. 13, 2017 — A three-carrier naval force is finishing a multi-day exercise in the Western Pacific, demonstrating the Navy's unique capability to operate multiple carrier strike groups as a coordinated effort, according to Navy officials.

“The United States Navy is the only force in the world able to carry out such an exercise,” a Navy official told DoD News.

The exercise features the aircraft carriers USS Ronald Reagan, USS Nimitz, and USS Theodore Roosevelt and includes air defense drills, sea surveillance, replenishments at sea, defensive air combat training, close-in coordinated maneuvers and other training, Navy officials said.

Ships from Japan and South Korea joined the exercise, officials said.

Triple Aircraft Carrier Training

"It is a rare opportunity to train with two aircraft carriers together, and even rarer to be able to train with three," the U.S. Pacific Fleet commander, Navy Adm. Scott Swift, said in a U.S. 7th Fleet release.

"Multiple carrier strike force operations are very complex,” Swift said.

He added, “This exercise in the Western Pacific is a strong testament to the U.S. Pacific Fleet's unique ability and ironclad commitment to the continued security and stability of the region."

The exercise is the first time three carrier strike groups have operated together in the Western Pacific since exercises Valiant Shield 2006 and 2007 off the coast of Guam, according to Navy officials.

Officials point out Navy aircraft carriers more recently have conducted dual-carrier strike group operations in the Western Pacific including in the South China Sea, East China Sea and Philippine Sea.

These exercises typically happen when an aircraft carrier deployed to the 7th Fleet area of operations joins with the carrier based in Japan. In this instance, the Nimitz was finishing a deployment in the 5th Fleet area -- the Persian Gulf -- and the Roosevelt was relieving it. The Reagan -- homeported in Japan -- joined the other two carriers, which are based in the Western United States.

Dual-Status Air Reserve Technicians Perform Vital Roles

By Air Force Tech. Sgt. Ryan Labadens, 403rd Wing

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss., Nov. 13, 2017 — Air reserve technicians, or ARTs, play a vital role in the Air Force mission to fly, fight and win in air, space and cyberspace.

According to Col. Robert Stanton, 403rd Wing vice commander and senior air reserve technician for the wing here, ARTs are Air Force reservists who serve in a dual status for the Defense Department.

“It’s a full-time federal service position matched with a military position, so it’s two positions under one title,” Stanton said. “You’re only on one status at a time though, either as a civilian working 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for example, or when you’re called up for duty -- you’re in a military status.”

Identical Mission, Training Requirements

Just like traditional reservists, ARTs also participate in unit training assemblies and perform annual tours alongside traditional reservists, and are required to meet all of the same mission and training requirements for their Air Force Reserve careers. The 403rd Wing currently has 379 members fulfilling these requirements.

However, one of the main differences between ARTs and traditional reservists is that ARTs work as civilian employees during the week to continue maintaining and operating their units between once-monthly weekend unit training assembly, or UTA, weekends, Stanton said.

“The main thing the ARTs offer is stability,” said Stanton. “It’s setting up the homefront, setting up the structure for the training environment so that the traditional reservists who don’t work here full time can just plug right in and get their training done.”

The ART program is also designed to offer a sense of continuity between UTAs.

“We’re here to keep the mission going during the week when the traditional reservists aren’t here,” said Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Brett Blanchard, 403rd Wing force development superintendent.

Part of Blanchard’s responsibilities as a member of the 403rd Wing education and training office is to help wing members apply for formal Air Force schools and receive credit for higher education courses taken through civilian universities, which can be applied as credit toward receiving their Community College of the Air Force degrees. The office he serves in also helps reservists to apply for tuition assistance through programs such as the GI Bill and the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

“We can help them get the ball rolling for a lot of these processes during the UTA, and then follow up during the week to make sure everything is running smoothly and find out what else needs to be done to help them accomplish what they want education wise,” Blanchard said.

Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Ingrid Anderson, 403rd Aeromedical Staging Squadron medical technician, said the work her squadron does during the weekend UTA flows right into the work week for the ARTs in her squadron.

‘Our Job Never Stops’

“All the ARTs here have different roles in reference to what they do as reservists, so our job never stops -- everything just flows together,” said Anderson, who was hired as an ART to update and take care of the medical requirements for 403rd Wing members. “So for example, we just came out of the October UTA, and we just immediately started prepping for November UTA.”

Of course, since the mission of the Air Force is to fly, fight and win, the Air Force Reserve also seeks to hire ARTs who can help maintain and fulfill that flying mission continuously throughout the year. The 403rd Wing has two flying squadrons: the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron “Hurricane Hunters,” which flies the WC-130J Super Hercules, and the 815th Airlift Squadron “Flying Jennies,” which flies the C-130J version.

Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jon Holderness is a member of the 803rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. As a dedicated crew chief and ART with the unit, Holderness said one of the main goals of ARTs, on the maintainer side, is to train reservists to make sure their qualifications are up to date so they can ensure the wing’s aircraft are ready to fly.

Holderness noted since ARTs make the Air Force Reserve their full-time careers, this allows them to build up a wealth of experience to offer to their units and the Air Force as a whole.

“This unit has a lot of experience in the weather reconnaissance mission, a lot of experience with the tactical mission … so the Air Force gets the benefit of that longevity and experience, which can stay here at Keesler, but still be passed on to others so that these airplanes can be well taken care of,” Holderness said. “My own training expertise increases every year because I become more of an expert at giving that knowledge to the younger individuals.”

For Holderness, being an ART also gives him the opportunity to do something he loves full time -- working on aircraft.

“I love my job. This is what I wanted to do when I was a kid, so working on aircraft is something I get to do as long as I want to,” he said.