Westover Patriots excel in Patriot Sands

  • Published
  • By SrA. Kelly Galloway
  • 439th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
WESTOVER AIR RESERVE BASE, Mass. --  The 439th Airlift Control Flight led deployed operations for Exercise Patriot Sands at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla., from April 25 to May 1. Seven Reserve units and a federal agency teamed up for an airlift training exercise simulating deployed bare-base conditions with limited support.

In addition to a C-5 aircraft and crew, 24 Westover personnel from the 439 ALCF, 42nd Aerial Port Squadron, 439th Force Support Squadron supported the exercise.
SrA. Muise, 439th ALCF loadmaster and ramp coordinator, supervised preparation of cargo, coordinated with key players to attain vital information and ensured safety during engine running cargo on and off-load. "The whole operation was highly productive... It built an excellent relationship with our affiliates," said SrA. Muise.

The Air Force Reserve Command has five airlift control flights, which consist of experienced airlift personnel to manage, coordinate and control air mobility assets. Depending on the mission, the specialized units may have to set up in an austere area, which was the purpose of the exercise--to gain experience and train in a fast-paced environment.

"We're part of contingency operations, if there is a surge in military operations or a natural disaster, we have 36 hours to get on a plane and head to a location that needs us, and we set up a mobile command post," said Capt. Jessica Rose, Contingency Response Element commander with the 439th ALCF.

SSgt. Janai Lee and TSgt. Lisa Dufresne, 439th Force Support Squadron, trained and assisted the Personnel Support for Contingency Operations team.

"We went not only to assist training personnel, but also to help streamline some of their processes, which hopefully will help for the next exercise, ORI or real world requirement," TSgt. Dufresne said. "It was really cool to see a whole unit deploy -- a unit that really comes together to accomplish the mission," she said.

This AFRC Headquarters exercise was for ALCF to train to deploy within 36 hours of tasking to a Forward Operating Location. An ALCF, or Contingency Response Element when deployed, is the front line of command and control. ALCF and APS personnel trained affiliates for rapid airlift and air mobility, ultimately toning their combat skills. The affiliate trained for air transportable operations was the FBI Rapid Deployment Teams from New York and Washington, D.C.

These CRE teams worked two FOLs at MacDill AFB and Patrick AFB. The 439th CRE was the lead unit at Patrick AFB with support from the 452nd ALCF from March AFB, the 512 ALCF from Dover, AFB, the 433rd ALCF from Lackland, AFB and the 920th LRF from Patrick, AFB. The 3-day combat mission undertaking included 10 sorties, moving of 100 short tons of cargo and 116 passengers.

"I brought back with me a new-found appreciation for all the different career fields involved in this exercise," TSgt. Dufresne said. "That kind of perspective I normally wouldn't have been able to get at home station."