Ramstein Airmen exercise in Bitburg

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Clay Murray
  • 52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
BITBURG, Germany --  2/9/2010 - BITBURG, Germany -- Members of the 435th Air Group Operations Wing, Ramstein Air Base, Germany, spent time on the Bitburg Annex flightline Jan. 24-30 for an operational exercise during a simulated civil war.

The exercise was carried out to boost mission readiness and to prepare for an upcoming operational readiness inspection.

"We deployed to a simulated base to support non-combatant evacuation operations of American citizens and other third-country nationals as a result of a fictional civil war that has broken out in a country in the European Theater," said Col. Timothy Brown, 435th Contingency Response Group commander and site commander.

Individual members of the 435th AGOW found the exercise to be beneficial and pointed out that it has important real-world application.

"The exercise benefits readiness by giving a whole sight picture of what may be going on and giving the feel for some potential threats you might see in-theater," said Staff Sgt. Seth Orman, 435th Security Forces Squadron combat arms journeyman.

The exercise scenario involved members from the wing, including airfield operations, aerospace ground equipment, command and control, communications, maintenance, medical, weather, and security forces, among others, arriving at a forward location to build up a bare base in support of evacuation. The first order of business upon arrival was establishing the base.

"We had the camp fully operational in much less than 24 hours after arrival and then concentrated on supporting the combat communicators in their ability to establish command and control," Colonel Brown said. "The weather delayed part of the deployment phase. Fortunately, we were poised to stage a surge operation, and by the time we had all the personnel and cargo at this location we were actually 24 hours ahead of schedule."

Not only were tents and living requirements set up, but they were done quickly while still accommodating Airmen working to help the mission progress regardless of delays.

"When the first personnel arrived, the task was to erect tents for them to sleep in and operate from, and get electricity and heat running. We had some great leadership by our NCOs and Airmen to make that kind of thing happen," Colonel Brown said.

Once the campsite was established, 435th AGOW Airmen focused on finishing the mission for which they deployed.

"My next task as the commander was to work with the embassy to establish operations for non-combatants, for example who is responsible for what and what will be the flow," he said. "There is a potential of 93,000 Americans we will have to evacuate out of the country and out of harm's way."

As the site commander, Colonel Brown repeatedly stressed the importance of Airmen putting into practice the expeditionary mentality.

"Because we are expeditionary in mindset and expeditionary in mission, we know we are subject to deploy anywhere on short notice. Part of our mindset is it doesn't happen unless we make it happen," he said.

"Everyone is a sensor on the camp and plays a vital role in force protection," Sergeant Orman added. "We all need to have that warfighter mentality because we are each a piece of the puzzle."