Bee Liners represent at Green Flag

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Geneva Croxton
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Two crews from the 21st Airlift Squadron and a team of maintainers from the 860th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron recently returned from a two-week mission supporting Green Flag-Little Rock. 

The mission was a joint training exercise between the Air Force, Army and Canadian air force.

The exercise took place at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, and was designed to help Airmen train in tactical conditions that they will face when down range during a mission or on a deployment.

The Bee Liners team consisted of two flying crews as well as maintainers from the 860th AMXS.

On the mission, the Bee Liners practiced aeromedical evacuation scenarios, semi-prepared runway operations and low-level flying within a challenging environment.

During the exercise, a great deal of learning took place with minimal room for error. The crews also practiced evasion techniques while being targeted with simulation ammo.

"One of the benefits of the mission was having two weeks dedicated to focus on the tactical level flying with difficult mission sets," said Capt. Kurt Degerlund, 21st Airlift Squadron, mission commander for this exercise. "Our junior pilots were able to practice flying a low level against simulated threats into the airfield. This focus on the tactical airlift is what prepares our team for flying into harm's way across the globe."

The crew was comprised of young aircraft commanders, co-pilots and instructor pilots, many of whom were experiencing demanding tactical situations for the first time. These challenges allow the Bee Liners to meet the highest standards of excellence around the world every day.

The Green Flag exercise also presented the opportunity for Airmen to step up.

"It gave my crew a chance to be small team leaders in a tactical environment, which is one of the most valuable learning environments," Degerlund said. "Small team leadership is a challenge. Our flyers and younger members got to see what it takes to get 20 people out the door and to a new location."

The excellence that the Bee Liners brought to Green Flag didn't stop short at the pilots.

"We received kudos from the Green Flag cadre for the preparedness shown by all the members of our team" Degerlund said.

The Bee Liners' loadmasters received accolades for their integration into the mission.

They not only loaded cargo and backed the massive C-17 Globemaster IIIs into tight parking, but took threat calls to let the pilots know where dangerous airspace was during the exercise.

Also influential to the Bee Liners' success was the team of eight maintainers they asked to come with them. The maintenance crew came together at the last minute, working hard to make sure everybody was ready to go on the mission.

"Our maintainers were integral in maintaining readiness and preventing any small issues before they became a bigger problem," Degerlund said. "We could not have had the success we did without them."

The Bee Liner crew was successful at integrating as a single team, while also working with Canadian forces and the United States Army.

The missions for the exercise were complicated, requiring advanced preparation from all members involved. The Army would submit a mobility request to the Air Mobility Division, which was responsible for creating and scheduling the mission before sending it to the mission planning cell for planning.

After the mission planning cell was finished, it handed the plan to the crew. The crew would typically then fly out of Little Rock Air Force Base to Alexandria, Louisiana, and then head to a semi-prepared airfield, Geronimo Landing Zone.

These missions usually took between 11 and 12 hours for the crew. The Bee Liners conducted 24-hour operations with two crews for two weeks and continued flying through weekends.

These exercises help integrate with different airframes.

"In this case, we worked closely with C-130 (Hercules) from Dyess Air Force Base," Degerlund said.

Bee Liner mission planners worked with the Dyess mission planners, as well as Canadian mission planners. The teams were able to solve similar problems by working together to make it happen.

The 436th "Canucks Unlimited" squadron from Canada brought C-130Js and most of the manpower for support, communications, maintenance and intelligence to Green Flag.

"We worked off of the Canadian backbone," Degerlund said.

Degerlund said the mission was helpful as it gave Airmen experience working with the Canadians in all areas. One example was using a radio communications network the Canadians established, piggybacking off of the setup and using their frequencies.

"On this mission, we were able to show up to a bare base, with minimal support from the base, to simulate forward deploying," Degerlund said.

Participation in Green Flag is a team effort, not only among the Travis team, but with the air mobility community.

For the Bee Liners, it was an opportunity to season young leaders and aviators. It also highlighted the fact that when it comes to core skills of deploying anywhere in the world to move any cargo for any user, the Bee Liners live up to their unofficial motto of "BEEAwesome."