CRW aids in Ardent Sentry

  • Published
  • By Capt. Peter Zwart
  • 15th Air Mobility Operations Squadron
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  On March 27, 1964 a 9.2 magnitude earthquake rocked the Prince William Sound region of Alaska.

To this day, the quake is still the second largest ever recorded and was the cause of extensive death, damage and destruction in Alaska. One hundred and thirty-one people lost their lives as a result of the quake and ensuing tsunamis and damages were estimated at $400 million in 1964. The earthquake took the region by surprise and the remoteness of Alaska only made rescue and recovery all the more difficult.

Exercise Ardent Sentry 2014 sought to ensure that our nation is prepared for this scale of disaster relief. Ardent Sentry is a joint exercise led by North American Aerospace Defense and U.S. Northern Command and focuses on the defense support to civilian authorities' mission.

The sheer size of the exercise required the participation from units around the world to coordinate such a complex mission. Ardent Sentry was an invaluable opportunity for the personnel from the 15th Air Mobility Operations Squadron at Travis Air Force Base and the 21st AMOS at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, both part of the 621st Contingency Response Wing.

The exercise helped hone their intra-theater and inter-theater command and control operations while learning to work in concert with their civilian counterparts. Seventeen members from both units deployed to Scott Air Force Base and stood-up the Contingency Response Cell at the 618th Air and Space Operations Center commonly known as Tanker Airlift Control Center and one member as a liaison officer to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

From March 25 to April 3, these command and control experts tackled the challenging assignment of coordinating the simulated movement of thousands of refugees, relief workers, supplies and patients to support disaster relief efforts. Ardent Sentry provided an unmatched training opportunity for the AMOS personnel to work with U.S. Transportation Command, joint partners and civilian authorities. For some it also was their first exposure to a major exercise.

"Ardent Sentry was a great opportunity to see the entire airlift command and control system at work," said 1st Lt. Kelly Myers, 15th AMOS. "It provided critical hands on experience and it was awesome to be part of such a vital mission."

The realistic backdrop of the 1964 earthquake serves as a reminder of the true importance of exercises like Ardent Sentry. Such exercises serve as great opportunities for personnel, military or civilian, to practice a true total government response to a national crisis. It is opportunities like these that ensure the next time a disaster strikes our homeland, Air Mobility Command and the 15th AMOS will be able to answer the call and provide direct support to the commanders on the ground so they may prevail.