Photo By Maj. Jason Sweeney | Command Sgt. Maj. Joseph Menard, of the California National Guard's 49th Military...... read more read more
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FAIRFIELD, Calif. - Moving the 49th Military Police Brigade Headquarters and Headquarters Company to a recent Warfighter exercise was a multi-state, multi-aircraft effort.
Five states and three types of aircraft, as well as airmen from the U.S. Air Force at Travis Air Force Base and Pope Airfield, were involved in the movement from California to North Carolina and back again.
Early on the morning of April 2, nearly 100 Soldiers from the headquarters company were bused from their armory in Fairfield, California, to Travis Air Force Base right next door. The Soldiers loaded onto two aircraft: a KC-135 Stratotanker refueler from the Alabama Air National Guard’s 117th Air Refueling Wing and a C-17 Globemaster III heavy lifter from the New York Air National Guard’s 105th Airlift Wing.
The aircraft flew to Fort Bragg’s Pope Field in North Carolina, where the Soldiers jumped right into a 10-brigade Warfighter exercise led by the 82nd Airborne Division.
Two weeks later when the exercise ended, it was back to Pope Field for the ride home. This time, the rides were provided by a KC-135 from the Utah Air National Guard’s 151st Air Refueling Wing, another KC-135 from the Maine Air National Guard’s 101st Air Refueling Wing and a C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft from the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Airlift Wing. A third aircraft was required for the ride home because of the 49th’s advance party returning with the main body of troops.
“It was a huge deal and a feather in the brigade’s cap to move using different airframes from so many different states,” said Master Sgt. Gerald Davis, one of the lead planners for the movement.
Davis said the Air Guard enabled the Soldiers to fly straight to their destination instead of scheduling multiple civilian airline flights with different arrival times.
In addition to its warfighting mission, the 49th MP Brigade is the lead element for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region IX Homeland Response Force and is responsible for responding to domestic disasters. Davis said safely and efficiently moving the headquarters company to Pope Field for the Warfighter exercise demonstrated a process that would occur if the unit was called up to respond to a large-scale domestic disaster.
“The Air Guard is an important partner in both our Homeland Response Force and warfighting training requirements,” 49th MP Brigade Commander Col. Kelly Fisher said. “We truly appreciate their support. We can always count on them when we need them.”
In addition to the 49th MP Brigade, the Air Guard has flown or will fly California National Guard units to Hawaii, Alaska, Utah and Kansas in 2014, said Jerry Issel, the California Military Department airlift manager at Joint Force Headquarters in Sacramento. The collaborations occur because of relationships that have been established between the two branches, she said.
“Everything went smoothly,” Issel said of the 49th’s movement to and from Pope Field. “It’s great to have all these air wings around the country helping us out. They’re doing us a great favor. The Air Guard doesn’t have to help the Army National Guard, but they do.”
Maj. Nathan Jordan, from the Maine Air National Guard’s 101st Air Refueling Wing, was a planner for the 49th’s return flight from Pope to Travis. He said the flights are picked up as operations, personnel and aircraft allow.
“There’s definitely a training value for us. It allows us to go to unfamiliar airfields and work the planning and logistics for different missions,” he said of transporting Soldiers around the country.
“We definitely benefit greatly from being able to move people around,” Jordan said. “There is also an issue of pride in being able to do the mission to the highest standards and provide our fellow service members an expeditious and comfortable ride to their mission and back home.”
| Date Taken: | 05.15.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 05.15.2014 20:43 |
| Story ID: | 130022 |
| Location: | FAIRFIELD, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 240 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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