RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- Westover Air Reserve Base Airmen assigned to the 439th Contingency Response Flight and the 42nd and 58th Aerial Port Squadrons participated in Exercise Swift Response at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, from June 4-15.
Exercise Swift Response is a joint U.S. Army/ U.S. Air Force, multinational exercise that annually demonstrate the United States’ commitment to NATO, to deterring aggression, and to the sovereignty and security of our allies and partners.
Members of Westover’s contingency response flight and aerial port squadrons worked together with other reservists from Dover Air Force Base, March ARB, and Lackland AFB over the course of the exercise. Together, they formed Swift Response’s intermediate staging base contingency response element and worked alongside high-readiness forces from Spain, Israel, Italy, Poland, Portugal and the United Kingdom.
Major Jessica Rose, the CRE commander for the ISB at Ramstein AB, said working with different units, branches, and nations was an invaluable experience.
“It gave us the opportunity to coordinate procedures and practice working together as one team with the ‘one fight’ concept, to react to any global crisis the U.S. or NATO deems necessary,” Rose said.
She said the CRE did an outstanding job overcoming the obstacles that come with working with so many various base agencies, users, and general war-time simulated operations.
Their teamwork resulted in the movement of more than one million pounds of cargo and more than 1,000 troops into various parts of Europe over a 72-hour period. Among the troops were hundreds of U.S. Army paratroopers and Tactical Air Control Party Airmen who jumped from U.S. Air Force C-17 and C-130 aircraft. Cargo included a Patriot missile launcher system and a U.S. Army battery command post.
Master Sgt. Steven Frost worked in the fast-paced Air Terminal Operations Center, where the quick movement of cargo and personnel was coordinated during Exercise Swift Response.
“A great group of people from different units came together, forming a cohesive team that set the bar high for future exercises that work to deter potential adversaries,” Frost said