CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. –
Airmen from the 437th and 315th Airlift Wings returned to Charleston AFB May 8-9 following a week-long exercise at the Combat Readiness Training Center at Alpena Air National Guard Base, Mich.
More than 600 Airmen deployed to form the 805th Air Expeditionary Wing as part of exercise Operation Crisis Look, in which Charleston Airmen and C-17 aircraft simulated a deployment to Japan to support U.S. and allied military operations on the Korean peninsula, and to provide humanitarian aid to people in the region.
"The ORE focused on both the readiness of the 437th and 315th Airlift Wings and their capabilities of deploying and working in contingency operations," said David Hunt, 437 AW Readiness and Inspection chief. "The scenarios the Airmen participated in not only introduced specific situations to organizations, but they also tested the entire deployed wing on their response and recovery capabilities from conventional threats, chemical threats and ground attacks."
Mr. Hunt said that he was impressed with the attitude each deployed Airman displayed during the ORE and that wings have improved significantly since the last exercise.
"I was very impressed with the can-do attitude and motivation that each Airman displayed during the initial deployment, not only departing from Charleston AFB, but also during the entire timeframe of the exercise," said Mr. Hunt. "The Charleston folks performed extremely well during the exercise and we are going to look at the lessons learned to see how we can do better and create permanent fixes for any of the problem areas we discovered."
As part of the exercise, more than 600 Airmen from both wings processed through the base mobility line in less than 36 hours.
"The process of reviewing more than 600 mobility folders is something that requires sound attention to detail," said Capt. Arnold Mosley, 437th Force Support Squadron manpower and personnel flight commander, and 437 AW Observer during the ORE. "I am extremely proud of the Airmen reviewing the records and the sense of urgency they displayed ensuring that records of deploying Airmen were error free."
In addition to the amount of Airmen processed through the mobility line, more than 435 short tons of cargo was processed, palletized and loaded on to aircraft as part of the exercise.
Col. Joe Mancy, 437th Operations Group commander and the deployed 805 AEW commander, expressed his pride and his appreciation on how the deployed forces seamlessly came together to make one team to get the mission done.
"I am extremely proud of the sense of urgency and pride that our deployed forces demonstrated during this week-long exercise," said Colonel Mancy. "The combination of the active-duty Airmen from the 437 AW with the fine Citizen Airmen from the 315th AW gave us an impressive team capable of responding to any situation."