Joint Base Charleston, S.C.
Patriot Joint Base Charleston: ‘Launch Point For The Nation's Resolve’
Vol. 8, No. 15
August 4, 2017
C-17s depart JB Charleston for Exercise Mobility Guardian U.S. Air Force photo / Staff Sgt. Christopher Hubenthal
Airman 1st Class Jamar Finnie, right, 437th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron instrument and flight control systems apprentice and Tech. Sgt. Timothy Smith, 437th AMXS, conduct prelaunch checks for a C-17 Globemaster III here, prior to departing for Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington State, in support of Exercise Mobility Guardian July 31. Mobility Guardian is designed to enhance the capabilities of mobility Airmen to succeed in dynamic threat environments. The exercise features more than 3,000 participants and involves 25 countries from July 31 to Aug. 11.
INSIDE
THANKS
State leaders honor first responders See page 3
SAFETY
Back to school: info and resources See page 5
CHOIR
The ballad of NNTPTC See page 9
Next Issue of the Patriot: August 18, 2017
Weekend Weather Update for Joint Base Charleston, SC Friday, August 4 Thunderstorms (80% precip)
High 84º / Low 73º
Saturday, August 5 Thunderstorms (80% precip)
High 86º / Low 73º
Sunday, August 6 Scattered Thunderstorms (60% precip)
High 87º / Low 74º
Extended Forecast
Mon. - August 7 88°/ 75° - Partly Cloudy (20%) Tue. - August 8 88°/ 74° - Scattered T-Storms (60%) Wed. - August 9 85°/ 73° - Scattered T-Storms (60%) Thur. - August 10 87°/ 75° - Scattered T-Storms (60%) Fri. - August 11 88°/ 73° - Scattered T-Storms (60%)
Mobility Guardian, AMC’s premier exercise Story by Capt. Kimberly Erskine Air Mobility Command Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. – Train like we fight is the focus of the inaugural iteration of the largest scale exercise that Air Mobility Command has ever undertaken. Mobility Guardian will feature over 3,000 personnel, including 25 international countries from July 31 to August 11 at Joint Base LewisMcChord, Washington. “Our ability to move national power to any location is key to the security of the United States,” said General Carlton D. Everhart II, Air Mobility Command commander. “Mobility Airmen are often the first to arrive and the last to depart. They provide continuous support to the joint warfighter. Simply put, success requires our Total Force team of mobility Airmen to work together with joint and international partners. Exercising our capabilities together is critical so when we are called upon, we can deliver quickly and precisely.” Exercise Mobility Guardian is designed to enhance the capabilities of mobility Airmen by preparing them to succeed in the dynamic threat environments of today and tomorrow.
“We’re creating an exercise that will encompass everything AMC does,” said Lt. Col. Jeremy Wagner, Mobility Guardian Director. “We basically took every skillset from AMC and said, ‘what would the ideal exercise for each of our different mission sets look like?’ Then we combined them all into one.” The exercise is about strengthening partnerships, discovery, learning and improving together as an integrated team, according to officials. Mobility Guardian will provide Mobility Airmen an opportunity to work with joint services, international partners and industry. This exercise is being conducted with mobility aircraft heavily involved in the war against the Islamic State and employed worldwide to deliver hope to those in need. The Combat Air Forces are supporting the exercises with an array of fighter and bomber capability to include F-35s, F-16s, A10s, F-15Es, F-15Cs, B-52s and the B-2. “We’re trying to challenge mobility Airmen to improve skillsets that they either may have not worked on recently or have experienced at all,” said 1st Lt. Michael McCarthy, Mobility Guardian planner. “Any Combat Air Forces involvement is to simulate what we would see real-world but real-
ly push these members to the limits within the safe parameters of what they’re capable of.” Training in preparation for the exercise has been left to individual units. Unlike AMC Rodeo, a competition, Exercise Mobility Guardian is less about showcasing skills and rather creating a comprehensive, realistic and complex training environment. This exercise is about developing new skills and spreading knowledge among Airmen as they work alongside our international partners, said McCarthy. Throughout the exercise, teams will make observations and gather metrics that will be passed to AMC leadership to develop an appropriate site picture of the MAF’s capabilities. They will also compile lessons learned for areas that need improvement, post-exercise. Planning and coordination has taken roughly two years and has involved the work of several career fields to include all core functions of AMC. Interest for the exercise has completely exceeded expectations as registration closed July 11 due to an overwhelming response. “We’ve built something really fantastic and I think people are responding to that,” said Wagner. “We’re getting people calling all of the time saying that they want to be a part of this.”
Managing materiel makes missions move
Story and photo by Senior Airman Thomas T. Charlton Joint Base Charleston Public Affairs
When an aircraft breaks, the parts to repair it don’t just appear, nor do military members have all of their deployment gear at their feet ready to go. It is up to materiel management to ensure these items are stored, accounted for and distributed. The 628th Logistics Readiness Squadron Materiel Management Flight provides joint customer support and management of materiel to optimize wartime readiness globally. “If it isn’t medical equipment or computers, it comes through us,” said Capt. Christie Taylor, 628th LRS Materiel Management Flight commander. “Our two main departments within materiel management are the individual protective equipment section and the aircraft parts store.” IPE is responsible for storing and providing tactical equipment, gas masks, weapons and deployment bags. ACPS stores and distributes the parts necessary to maintain the Joint Base Charleston Senior Airman Matt Kolodziej, 628th Logistics Readiness C-17 Globemaster Squadron Materiel Management Flight individual protective equipment section operator, stores tactical equipment in III fleet. “IPE is going the materiel management building on Joint Base Charleston, S.C., July 14. IPE issues equipment to mem- to look at an indibers of Joint Base Charleston who are preparing to deploy. vidual’s reporting
instructions to determine exactly what the person needs before issuing the items,” said Taylor. “The same goes for ACPS, looking at what is being requested and ensuring the parts are distributed properly.” Members of the 628th LRS Materiel Management Flight work with the 635th Supply Chain Operations Group at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, to anticipate what equipment needs to be stocked based on the usage and number of people and aircraft on station. “Accountability and quality are essential when we do our job,” said Senior Master Sgt. Julie Frydrych, 628th LRS Materiel Management Flight superintendent. “When we provide a product, it is on time, the right resource and it works the way it’s intended. That is why it is important we have the inventory and central storage sections to manage and account for the parts and equipment within IPE and ACPS.” Bases are able to request parts from other installations when unexpected needs arise. The 635th SCOG will reach out to other bases to locate the part and provide it to the installation in need. See Managing Material, Page 3
See info on Page 7
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