RED HORSE airmen conduct air drop and sling load training with Nevada Army National Guard

News: RED HORSE airmen conduct air drop and sling load training with Nevada Army National Guard

99th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

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Senior Airman Brett Clashman

U.S. Air Force jumpers from the 820th Red Horse squadron, airborne flight, drop into a landing zone over the Sen. Harry Reid Readiness and Training Center in Stead, Nev., June 28. The Nevada Army National Guard and the 820th airborne Red Horse flight conducted airdrops and sling-load training at Stead, Nev.

RENO, Nev. – Members of the 820th Rapid Engineers Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineer airborne flight, Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., and guardsmen from the Nevada Army National Guard conducted air-drop and sling-load training operations here, June 28 and 29.

The 820th RED HORSE unit conducts similar training operations throughout the year with other units so it can continue to serve the U.S. military as a highly-mobile civil engineering response force that is able to support contingency and special operations worldwide.

“It’s great that we got to do this training exercise again,” said Army 1st Sgt. Don Gable, 1st Battalion, 189th Aviation Company unit standardization instructor. “We want to keep the training going on both sides so we stay proficient in our respected responsibilities.”

During the training, the RED HORSE personnel and guardsmen first inspected the cargo-loading equipment to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each piece. Then they worked on proper sling-load rigging and inspecting procedures. They also performed personnel air drops into a drop zone.

In real-world operations, RED HORSE airborne airmen are deployed to remote locations. Upon entering a drop zone, they are expected to be self-sufficient and create airfields, storage areas, living facilities and operational buildings, which usually become the foundations for forward operating locations. To effectively carry out the mission, they need to maintain their expertise in many maneuvers, including low-cost, low-altitude drops and sling-load operations.

Gable said the drops are part of a delivery system that allows for resupply without having to land, which is useful in deployed locations.

“The difference [between the last training exercise and this one] is that [before] our airmen only did standard sling loads,” said Air Force Capt. Kenneth Cooper, 820th RED HORSE airborne flight commander. “The loads they dealt with today were all unique loads, something we hadn’t trained on before. The unique loads are what we would normally see today in Afghanistan.”

The sling-load rigs that the RED HORSE airborne flight trained with consisted of a ConEx storage container, used to simulate moving mobile living facilities or storage containers, and an 11,000 pound steel training block, used to simulate moving heavier objects such as construction equipment.

“Overall, this training was a great success,” Cooper said. “Everyone got hands-on application and expressed deep confidence of what they were training on. It’s been a huge benefit to have the 189th Aviation Company on our side. They’ve been helping us out along the way to get us closer and closer to being fully operational.”