Exercise spans seas

  • Published
  • By Capt. Paradon Silpasornprasit
  • 615th Contingency Response Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  More than 40 members of the 15th Air Mobility Operations Squadron traveled to the Republic of Korea recently, bringing their specialized expertise to the Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise held annually across the Korean peninsula. Ulchi Freedom Guardian 2011 took place Aug. 16 to 26, and is the world's largest annual computerized command and control joint military exercise between the United States and South Korea.

More than 500,000 host nation and 30,000 joint and coalition members participated in this year's exercise.

The exercise is named after a famous Korean general Ulchi Mundeok. General Mundeok defeated the more powerful Chinese Sui Army, the virtual super power of its time. He showed his leadership and communication skills by remaining composed and unifying his soldiers, which allowed him to defeat the enemy. This same mastery of communication and coordination is what drives UFG. The exercise is designed to reinforce the interoperability and readiness of U.S. and Republic of Korea forces under the terms of the Mutual Defense Treaty.

Defending the Korean Peninsula requires experts from a broad range of military specialties. The 15th AMOS coordinated mobility operations in conjunction with joint and combined forces as part of the Air Mobility Division. During operations, ROK Air Force airlift planners sat next to U.S. airlift planners.

"The AMD determines the most efficient way to move personnel and equipment," said Lt. Col. Richard Telles, 615th Contingency Response Wing air mobility support team chief. "When ground forces need airlift support, it is coordinated through the AMD."

The 15th AMOS focuses on meeting the demands of contingency operations worldwide, and specializes in deploying teams of Airmen trained in a variety of professions. This year, the 15th AMOS also partnered with Airmen from the 21st AMOS, assigned to the 621st CRW at McGuire AFB, Nj. The exercise was an opportunity for the AMOS to hone their capability to command and control U.S. airlift and tanker assets operating in the Korean Theater of Operations.

Working within the Korean theater can prove different from operations in other parts of the world. The exercises are constantly being refined and adjusted based on lessons from missions in Southwest Asia. 1 Lt. Chris Metro, 21st AMOS AMD theater aeromedical evacuation system manager, shared his UFG experience.

"We deploy to air operations centers and plan all the air evacuation movements for that theater," he said. "It's been a good learning experience because every theater is different."

Metro said it was nice to see how their Korean counterparts operate their missions and how the forces fit together seamlessly.

The AMOS is a specialized unit that provides command and control at the operational level, whereas the 615th CRW specializes in the more tactical portions of a mission. The 615th CRW employs mission-ready airfield assessment teams, airfield operations, command and control, aerial port and aircraft maintenance personnel. Weather, medical, intelligence, air traffic control, security forces, finance, fuels, supply and contracting personnel are also part of the CRW. During UFG, these Airmen honed their capabilities in upholding the Armistice between the United States and the Republic of Korea, working side-by-side with Republic of Korea Air Force personnel.

"We have participated in the combined exercise with the USAF and ROK together," said Maj. Kim, Sunkyu, air control team chief, ROK Air Force. "We have been coordinating nicely together to execute our missions."

Air superiority is a key component of that mission. This shared sense of purpose in defending the Korean Peninsula against any threat harkens back to the military leader for which the exercise is named. Ulchi Freedom Guardian strengthens the ROK-U.S. Alliance and the Airmen who train to uphold it.