All right . I'm Lieutenant Colonel
Joshua Linden . Uh I'm from the 10 3rd
Airlift Wing in Connecticut Air
National Guard . We fly C 1 30 H threes
and at home , I'm the chief of OGV
Stand and here at Mobility Guardian ,
I'm the C 1 30 H Force Element
commander at Yako Air Base , Japan . So
uh that's a good question . Um We're
practicing what , what we really are
are looking at as a country . Our
strategic focus has been on in um on
the region in the Pacific . So , taking
the exercise from the United States
over here , uh exercises the capability
to rapidly deploy to employ in this
region and uh teaches the air air
mobility command about , you know ,
some of the challenges that are
inherent in this region , big wide
spread out distances . Um The plane
that we fly the C 1 38th has a lot
shorter legs and some other assets that
are out here . So it's gonna be a
challenge and that's why we , we moved
it over to the Pacific . Um So
I'll start with my role in the exercise .
I'm uh the C 1 38th Force Element
commander . So we're welding together ,
uh you know , three different units ,
uh Connecticut , Montana , Air National
Guard . And then we also have Saint
Joe's Air National Guard and Missouri
National Guard . And then we also have
a air reserve crew . So we're welding ,
you know , 42 different components , uh
four different units together , we have
four tails . Um So my job as the C 1 30
H Force element commander is to kind of
bring all those cats and dogs together ,
make them one unit , bring that one
unit from the United States over here
to Kota Air Base , Japan and then
employ um as , as the exercise dictates
do the mission . Um So that's kind of
my role . Uh the , the lead up um to
mobility guardian was massive , much
bigger than in years past because it's ,
you know , a world away , you know ,
we're 13 hours away from uh time zones
different than the United States . So
we're on the other side of the planet .
So picking up our stuff , our people ,
um I have almost 100 and 40 folks and
moving them halfway around the world is
a massive effort . And that's just the
C one thirties that has nothing to do
with any other assets across all the
locations that we have in Mobility
Guardian . So the , the lead up was
huge . Um A lot of thrash uh a lot of
good stuff that we , that we learned
along the way . But um it was a huge
effort . Uh , it's been going on for ,
um , uh , over a year and then it
really started heating up in the last
like six months . I'd say , uh , we
turned it up to 11 to , to do the
planning to get out here . So , yeah ,
it was serious . Number one goal is
always going to be safety . You know ,
flying is inherently dangerous when you
take four C 1 30 you take them through ,
you know , some of the most dangerous
weather in the world in the islands .
Bering sea across big widespread out
distances , remote island destinations .
Um That's going to be , you know ,
something that we don't do all the time ,
but that we're trained to do . So my
goal , the force element commander is
to do the mission and do it safely . Um
That's , that's first and foremost ,
take care of our people , take care of ,
of uh their needs , make sure that we
could execute the mission safely , keep
the plane safe . And then after that ,
that we're gonna learn something while
we're out here . Uh And then we're
gonna practice some different mission
set . So in the lead up to Guardian ,
we started doing things that we had
never done before , you know , no light
landing . It's called AMP four , you
know , landing on a runway with no
lights . We have new capabilities that
we wanted to , to practice while we
were out here . So those are , you know ,
training objectives . But mostly to
keep the , the crews um and their
planes and their people safe , getting
out here and getting home here in Kota
Air Base . Uh We're really focused on
integrating with our embedded A E folks ,
uh aeromedical evacuation folks . So um
we've carried them all around our local
a or here in Japan um and employed with
them um And for them . So uh that's
kind of a more local objective , but
across Mobility Guardian , C 1 30 have
done forward area refueling air drop .
Um It's a pretty capable airplane . We
have a lot of different mission sets
and I think uh air Mobility command
wanted to see all of those across the
spectrum here locally . We've been
focused on that aeromedical EBA piece ,
but uh it's a pretty capable plane and
it could do a lot of different things .
So we've seen , we've seen it so far do
a lot of those different things . So as
a commander , uh you know , you wanna
take care of your people , we're
bringing them around the world , we
want to keep those people safe . So as
a commander , you know , as a leader we
want , that's always gonna be the thing
that I think about first , like are my
folks safe ? Are they taken care of ?
Do they have a place to sleep ? Um Do
they have food ? You know , all the
care and feeding part ? You want to
make sure that their folks are safe and ,
and taken care of and , um , going
around the world and , and going to a
new place is that's gonna be a
challenge in and of itself bedding the
airplane down , where are we gonna park
and where we're gonna park all these
people and then we have to stop , you
know , a couple of times along the way .
Um , we went through the islands , we
had to bed down , uh , one tail had to
remain overnight in a a location that
we had never been before . So those are
all the challenges that um that you
can't forecast . So uh going into
Mobility Guardian , my focus on the
challenges is mostly the care and
feeding of people . I knew that my
aircraft commanders are going to crush
the mission . Those guys are experts at
what they do . I have no concern
launching a crew on any mission
anywhere in the world . Those guys can
go crush the mission . My focus is a
little bit broader than that . Um And ,
and that's been a different change of
pace for me . Yeah . Uh the
United States as a strategic partner
and ally in the region . We're building
those partnerships with our host nation
here in Japan . We had General Miley
come through while we were here to
Japan . So it's a strategically , very
important place in the Pacific . We
need to build those partnerships if
we're gonna be able to continue to
pursue our strategic goals as a country
and it's indispensable to have partners
and allies in that mission , you can't
do it without them . So at each
location for Mobility Guardian , you
know , we're little ambassador
locations for , for this place . And um
we've been uh working with host nation
uh to do the mission while we've been
out here A four is obviously how
we generate forces and apportion them
out into the a or wherever that is
wherever the fight is . Um That's where
we're gonna send our folks . So um it's
kind of a bucket system . Uh and the
guard has been the guard and , and the
Air Force Reserve Command have been
working into that . A four model . A
four really focuses on getting units
ready to deploy , deploying those units
and then reconstituting those units .
Um coming out to Mobility Guardian ,
this is gonna be , you know , some of
the hardest missions that we can fly ,
we're flying in an integrated
environment and working uh with a lot
of other different assets . That's good
for our training . You need that first
spin up . Uh So Mobility Guardian can
serve a lot of the units that are
flying in the in the exercise as part
of that . A four spin up to go on to
future deployments . I've learned to
take every day , one day at a time . I
mean , every day it changes out here .
Uh we get late breaking changes from
the mission , we get changes for people
and keeping them healthy , you know ,
the planes got to keep the planes
healthy . So every day is one day at a
time . Um And we , as we focus on today ,
we got still lead turn tomorrow . So
we're working already on redeployment
making sure that we can redeploy as
smooth as we can . Um , because n isn't
until we get home . That's what Xab
says . Uh That's what our boss in , in
Guam says . And he's , he's , he's
right . Uh So we want to make sure that
we don't uh take our eyes off the prize
that we continue to crush the mission
today that we're looking at the
missions tomorrow and that we're ready
to redeploy um professionally all the
way back to four different bases back
home , getting out here . Uh One of the
things that we wanted to focus on was
getting out here quickly . Uh And now
it is a challenge for a 1 30 . We're a
slow airplane , relatively speaking ,
we fly relatively slow and low and um
getting anywhere quickly in a 1 30 is
difficult , especially when you're
talking about the big spread out spaces
uh in the , in the Pacific . And we're
traveling from , you know , probably
some of the furthest locations for any
mobility guardian players . Uh We also
had to get four different planes from
three different locations over there .
Uh Doing that was a challenge . We uh
we ran into some bad weather um on the
way over here and that's a reality of
flying you know , you can't do anything
about maintenance and whether you gotta
play the , the cards that you've been
dealt . So as we dealt with that , we
dealt with it dynamically , we did get
delayed by a day . We did have a plane
remain overnight in a small island on
the way over here . Those are
challenges that we overcame , but uh we
got the whole force element here . Uh
and we started flying missions as soon
as two tails were already on the ground .
So even though the whole force element
wasn't here , our , our brothers were
already launching missions before the
rest of the fourth element arrived . I
think that's pretty realistic for what
we could see in any scenario . And ,
and that's definitely was like the
first challenge that we overcame . Um
getting out here at the mobility
guardian . Um rapid global mobility is
the desire to project air power
anywhere in the world any time . Uh um
But being able to project air power to
gather aircraft , their people , their
um equipment and then go do the job
anywhere any time is really what we're
after because we , we have um folks
that we support whether it's
aeromedical or we're supporting Army
Marine Corps or Navy Taskings . Um You
need that logistics support from the 1
30 the C 1 30 to go do those mission .
So if it's gonna get somewhere , it's
probably getting there on ac 1 30 to ,
to some forward operating base what ,
that's what the C 1 30 does . We're
intra theater , air lift , we lift
stuff from one part of the theater to
another and we enable future missions
within that theater . So if , if that's
a e aeromedical evac , that's one part
of it , but it's also troops equipment ,
we could airdrop it . Um We're gonna
supply it . That's what the 1 30 does .
So the , the tyranny of distance , big
wide spread out spaces . We're talking
uh 3000 mile legs for ac 1 30 for one
from going from one island to another .
Those are big spaces where max uh we
call it max bag . That's max loading
the C 1 30 with as much gas as it could
take . That's the tyranny of distance
and in , in between there , there's
nowhere to land . You're going from one
island and the next place you're going
to hope the weather is good because
you're landing on that island . Um And
I hope you brought enough gas to hold
to make sure that , that that weather
is good . That's kind of a good example .
So um one example is like uh the , the
Hickham to Wake Island run that we did .
That's a long distance for C 1 30 . Uh
We did it uh three times so far um
during mobility guardian . And uh we're
still hauling , you know , 15 £20,000
of cargo in addition to all that gas
with the people that need to come here
and do their jobs . So , uh , that's
kind of the , the tyranny of distance
in a nutshell . Um , moving anywhere
out here is gonna take a long time .
It's gonna take a lot of gas , it's
gonna , uh , but we can still do the
job and effectively deliver , uh , the
equipment and the people , um , where
they need to be , our force element is
unique in that we welded together , you
know , two components , the guard and
the reserve . Um We're uh most of the
units that are out playing out here are
active duty units . Um There are some
garden reserve folks playing with the
KC 1 35 and I think it's important for
people to know that active duty doesn't
do its job without the garden reserve .
Um We're an integral part of a , um
we're picking up active duty missions
uh on title 10 all the time and that ,
uh you know , we're part of the
backbone of , of A MC maintenance is
crushing it . Um We have four healthy
tails out there . I could not be
happier . Air crew doesn't do anything
without healthy tails to fly . Um We
have four different maintenance units
out here or three different maintenance
units out here . We have Montana Saint
Joe's in Connecticut and they're all
working together . We're turning
wrenches on , you know , two different
variants of the C 1 30 with uh two
different engines and two different
types of propellers and they're all
working together fantastically and
generating air power um every day . So
I could not be more proud of our , of
our maintenance folks . They have
absolutely crushed it . Um And that
enables , you know , flyers like me to
go step to a plane and go fly the
mission , you know , you need planes to
go fly and we've had a very healthy
fleet knock on wood . Um Hope we keep ,
keep the fleet healthy as we keep going
through mobility guardian . Um But
that's , those are the folks that I'm
proud of . Uh in addition to the air
crew , air crew are , are doing the
jobs that they've been trained to do
and they're doing a great job . Um
They've been going to fields that even
locally here in Dakota , the 374 hasn't
been to very often . We've gotten
opportunities to go to fields all over
the country uh to include uh down south
to Cadena , which is , it's been great .
It's been a great experience for them .
A lot of the folks that are uh flying
these missions haven't never been to
these places before . So from mission
planning to mission execution , um It's
been a good story all around and as the
Force Element commander . Um Yeah , my
guys have been flying awesome . They've
been doing great . We've put a lot of
people in roles and responsibilities
that they've never done before and it's
uh exercises like this are a great
opportunity for them to step up to the
plate and they , they're nailing it .
Um So I think we're gonna learn
something from everyone . Um We've got
different types of specialists out
there on the line , turning wrenches ,
we've got uh different capabilities on
the , on the air crew side of things .
So we're gonna learn something from
everyone . We've got brand new aircraft
commanders , we've got instructor
pilots , we've got , you know , your
brand new uh flying crew chief or crew
chief and we've got seven levels and
supervisors out there on the line . So
combining them all together , learning
from different units is good . Um We're
also uh flying to , like I said , two
different variants uh and then two
different engine models and two
different types of propellers . So um
getting to know our way around all
those different variants of , you know ,
engines and propellers and planes is
really a good thing for our maintenance
folks as the C 1 30 fleet continues to
evolve and change and we get those ,
those new propellers , those 3.5 engine
upgrades . Um We're gonna get that
experience out here , turning wrenches
on those planes before they arrive at
our home station . So that's like one
example um of , of the virtuous cycle
of just smashing all these units
together and making them one force
element for a brief period of time .
Sometimes it's not over , always super
smooth getting the National Guard to
hop into a title 10 exercise . So that
on boarding process is is critical ,
but once we get those title 10 orders
in hand , we're sprinting . You know ,
our folks are going to be same , same
as any other active duty member . Um We
have highly trained members , weapons
officers , uh instructor pilots with
thousands of hours of experience so the
guard can bring that experience to the
fight . We're gonna have more by and
large , more experienced crews than
active duty . Um Guys that have been
flying this plane for 15 , 20 years uh
doing the mission . Um We also have
brand new crews as well . So I think
that's something that the guard brings
to the fight . Uh is , is that
experience level . Um Guard guard crews
tend to be a little bit more seasoned .
Um And , and we know our planes very
well . We , we've uh our planes are our
friends and they live on our ramps for
years and years and years . So we kind
of know their idiosyncrasies a little
bit . Um So that's one thing . Um But
once we get here , we're basic , we're
active duty title 10 . Um There is no
difference uh between uh my crew and
the J model crew down the street
besides the plane that we're flying .
We're here to do the mission uh with
whatever we're tasked with . Once we
depart home station with uh title 10
orders in hand , we are an active duty
crew .