Large formation flight provides training opportunity for Airmen and Soldiers

  • Published
  • By Airman Leah Young
  • 62nd Airlift Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. --  Seven C-17 Globemaster III aircraft flew a local area flight formation Wednesday.

The flight was part of a joint requirement to execute Army forcible entry operations by airdropping an entire brigade on short notice.

"Basically, the mission today is to qualify the loadmasters so they would be able to do this in a deployed situation," said Master Sgt. David Noel, 7th Airlift Squadron loadmaster. "It's important to do these exercises so we're always ready."

Active-duty aircrews from the 4th, 7th, 8th and 10th Airlift Squadrons, as well as Reserve Airmen from the 97th, 728th and 313th Airlift Squadrons, participated in the flight formation.

The seven-ship formation took off from McChord Field at approximately 10 a.m., heading west toward Rogers Drop Zone to begin the first stage of the training.

Members of the 22nd Special Tactics Squadron had an opportunity to enhance their skills by performing a personnel drop over Rogers Drop Zone as part of the first portion of the exercise.

"This is a great opportunity, because it's my responsibility to get us directly over the jump zone," said Staff Sgt. Joe Culbertson, 22nd STS jumpmaster. "Everything we do outside of a combat zone is just practice for when the time comes to deploy."

After the 22nd STS personnel drop, the C-17's re-formed to initiate the second stage of the training exercise, aerial refueling.

"Air refueling takes patience and discipline," said Maj. Matthew Crockett, a 10th AS aircraft commander.

When refueling was complete, crews then flew to eastern Washington to form up and begin preparations for landing. Upon approach back to McChord Field, the pilots practiced flying at low altitudes.

Low level flying is another skill that takes discipline and patience, according to Major Crockett.

The seven-ship formation exercise was successfully completed, with both the aerial refueling and personnel drop conducted as planned.

"It is extremely critical to practice these skills because they are so perishable," said Major Crockett. "We need to ensure we're able to complete these missions in a fast yet effective manner."

Members of Team McChord conduct these types of training exercises as frequently as possible to ensure critical skills are performed flawlessly in a combat environment.