FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- Mobility Guardian 2019, Air Mobility Command’s premier exercise hosted by the 92nd and 141st Air Refueling Wings, kicked-off at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, Sept. 8.
Mobility Guardian 2019 is AMC’s largest full-spectrum readiness exercise to date and took over a year of deliberate logistics planning for the reception, staging, onward movement and integration of a joint force deploying from across the globe to participate.
"The logistical requirements to support AMC’s largest and longest exercise to date has been a monumental challenge in and of itself," said Maj. Jason Krazer, Mobility Guardian lead logistician. "Over 300 logistics planners from across the AMC Staff and other major commands, Team Fairchild, 81 Total Force wings and joint partners have spent countless hours ensuring the flow of forces and equipment to and from exercise locations will meet the demands for high-end full spectrum readiness training."
Some of the 46 participating U.S. and 29 international partner aircraft began arriving at Fairchild yesterday to deliver flight crews and vital cargo for the operation. More aircraft, crews, cargo and personnel will continue to arrive throughout the month.
“We’re here to down-load cargo from incoming aircraft, then store and ready it to go out into the field,” said Staff Sgt. Jordan Dodd, 773rd Logistics Readiness Squadron combat mobility supervisor. “No missions can proceed without cargo movement and organization. It’s exciting to come from Alaska and do this job alongside people from all over and learn how they do it. It’s a big deal for us to work with any partner and in any location without slowing down and keep operations moving smoothly.”
A range of airframes, including the KC-10 Extender, KC-135 Stratotanker, C-5 Super Galaxy, C-17 Globemaster and C-130H/J Hercules are taking part in the exercise. To accommodate the array of large aircraft, exercise areas will span beyond Fairchild to Selah Creek within the Yakima Training Center, Washington, the Mountain Home Range Complex, Idaho, Moses Lake Grant County Airport and several other training areas in the region.
Mobility Guardian is about strengthening partnerships and improving together as an integrated team. Interoperability between U.S. forces and international partners will be developed throughout the exercise by testing participants against threats faced in the current fight and future, higher-end conflicts.
"The future of warfare will be increasingly joint," said Lt. Col. Joseph Monaco, Mobility Guardian exercise director. "This exercise is an unparalleled opportunity to develop joint-minded Airmen who can integrate seamlessly with Soldiers, Sailors and Marines to compete and if necessary, win amidst great power adversaries."
Mobility Guardian scenarios are designed to elicit a real-world feel while focusing on all four AMC core competencies – the diverse missions of airlift, air refueling, aeromedical evacuation and global air mobility support. Airmen will be challenged to improve their skills in forcible entry, airfield seizure, strategic deterrence and humanitarian relief operations.
"Unmatched Rapid Global Mobility exists because of the ready and resilient Airmen who execute the mission day in and day out," said Gen. Maryanne Miller, AMC commander. "Training exercises such as Mobility Guardian are critical to ensuring our Airmen are able to keep AMC’s promise to always be there for those who depend on us, both today and tomorrow."