JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. -- Personnel from across Team McChord and Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, recently executed Operation KENNEY’S RETURN, a Combined and Joint exercise throughout the Indo-Pacific.
The exercise involved Joint and Coalition maneuver with representatives from the U.S. Army’s I Corps, Pacific Air Forces, United States Transportation Command Joint Communication Service Element, as well as units assigned to the U.S. Space Force, and the Royal Australian Air Force and Army.
“What OKR was really about was about validating that we can move very quickly into the Pacific with a group of cross functional experts and operate immediately upon arrival,” said Col. Patrick McClintock, 62d Operations Group and OKR 7th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron wing commander. “We accomplished this over the course of a 40-hour max endurance sortie, where we flew to Townsville, Australia, and worked alongside our Australian partners to execute and test tactical objectives in that region of the world.”
The 7th Airlift Squadron designed this exercise to hone their combat edge, validate the lessons of Mobility Guardian ’23, and build their readiness in the priority theater of the Defense Department.
“Part of the test here is to see if we could actually continue to generate all of those sorties over the duration of our exercise,” said Lt. Col. Matthew Weinberg, 7th AS and 7th EAS commander. “When we slim down our deployment package, we also slim down the parts we bring, and the specialists we bring to do some of those repairs, but what we did not slim down is the tempo that we were operating under. We put 300 hours on those airframes in ten days, and we launched every single sortie that we planned.”
OKR was planned over the course of several months and harnessed the skills and expertise of a 170-member Joint Force to conduct tactical and strategic operations throughout the 10-day exercise.
“We had over 10 firsts during OKR,” said Capt. Lindsay Locke, OKR lead planner and director of operations. “Those firsts included the first C-17 Globemaster III to hot-pit refuel at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, and the first C-17 to do specialized fueling operations with an Australian fuel truck.”
Operation Kenney’s Return was named after World War II Air Force Gen. George C. Kenney, known for his exceptional leadership and combat innovation in the Pacific. During the war, Kenney worked in Townsville and fought in the Battle of Bismarck Sea alongside the RAAF.
“I can't emphasize enough just how helpful the Australians were for us,” said Capt. Marcus Malecek, OKR lead planner and director of training and tactics. “Everything from how we can operate in their airspace, to the amount of integration and mission success we saw, and how easily and quickly our two units molded together to form one strong, cohesive unit. It was impressive, and something I'm really thankful for.”
The 7th EAS was able to learn and work alongside the RAAF and Australian Army members throughout the exercise and continue building that partnership that began with Kenney over 80 years ago.
“Every success that we had in OKR is due to the relationships that we developed during the execution process or the planning process,” said Weinberg. “There's a lot of happy byproducts of us being out there and doing this. It's like a small rock in a big pond. Those ripples are going to be felt for a long time.”
OKR was another step forward in operating, maneuvering and projecting power and global airlift across the Indo-Pacific.
“We're going to need reps and sets, and we're going to need that relationship piece on a relatively regular basis, and that's what OKR was the first to do,” said McClintock.