Titan Fury 18-2

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Ryan Lackey
Airmen at the 92nd Air Refueling Wing spent this week practicing alert-force operations during exercise Titan Fury 18-2 here Aug. 20 through 24, 2018.

Titan Fury is a readiness exercise used to validate and improve upon Fairchild Airmen’s ability to provide Rapid Global Mobility as required by U.S. Strategic Command and U.S. Transportation Command.

"Titan Fury serves as a key measuring stick of our overall warfighting capability readiness," said Col. Derek Salmi, 92nd Air Refueling Wing commander. "This particular exercise is important for Team Fairchild’s role in defending the U.S. against its most critical threats as these efforts allow us to better observe where we can improve our process to execute our world-wide aerial refueling mission."

The KC-135 and the Airmen that maintain, prepare, secure and fly them are crucial to the success of the Air Force mission of providing forces able to respond to threats worldwide at a moment’s notice.

Security Forces carried out operations to include law enforcement, base defense, and restricted-area security, working alongside every unit on base in order to ensure Airmen are able to carry out Fairchild’s strategic mission without fail.

"This exercise incorporated the bread-and-butter of our responsibilities as Defenders at Fairchild AFB," said Maj. Joseph Schneider, 92nd Security Forces Squadron commander. "We are a critical component that helps ensure Fairchild’s tankers get airborne, with an able crew, and in flying condition. We take that protection responsibility very seriously and the base absolutely saw our Defenders display that commitment in the performance of their duties this week."

Processing dozens of Airmen and their cargo in a rapid manner can be a significant challenge, but Fairchild Airmen train constantly to ensure the most efficient processing possible when responding to an order to deploy.

“It’s a wing-wide effort when we deploy, and our exercises reflect this as well,” said Mike Dery, 92nd Logistic Readiness Squadron installation deployment officer. “Deployments involve prepping Airmen, cargo, equipment and anything else our teams may need downrange in order to be mission ready. We must move quickly when the situation demands it and our Airmen have displayed exceptional mission focus.”

Maintainers work day and night to keep the fleet of KC-135 Stratotankers ready to fly for alert crews, who in turn keep a 24/7 vigil in the event they are tasked to respond to a potential threat, ensuring Fairchild’s mission continues no matter the situation.

"It boils down to the outstanding Airmen that are making this mission happen," said Capt Joshua George, 92nd ARW deputy director of wing inspections. "Team Fairchild Airmen preform at a high caliber every day and they are proving it with the results we are witnessing during this exercise."

The KC-135 Stratotanker has been utilized for decades to extend the reach of fighters, bombers and other aircraft through aerial refueling. Because of this “air bridge,” U.S. and allied air power can be projected around the world 24/7, 365 days a year.