JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. –
Aristotle said, "We are defined by what we do repeatedly; therefore excellence is a habit, not an act." When it comes to Joint Task Force Civil Support training, that motto is a way of life.
The recent Deployment Readiness Exercises is an example of that way of life.
DREs are a tool JTF-CS uses to ensure plans and processes run smoothly in the event of a chemical, biological, radiological or neurological attack on US soil.
“Essentially they [DREs] provide a validation of our pre-deployment and deployment timelines,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Joseph Timberlake, the training, exercise and readiness division chief for JTF-CS. “We plan our response in a certain sequence. Going through them in a DRE gives us a chance to test those plans.” This also gives unit members a chance to see where processes might be improved.
The most recent DRE, held November 2, 2016, was the second phase of the exercise meant to test the recall of the Bravo crew and practice their assigned duties, including the process of loading vehicles onto aircraft.
“Bravo crew are drivers and assistant drivers of our vehicles whose purpose is to drive people to the Aerial Port of Embarkation in order to prepare for aerial transport,” explained Marine Maj. Joseph Buffamante, the current operations action officer with JTF-CS. His task for this DRE was to coordinate the JTF-CS personnel for their specific assignments and duties.
“These DREs are important because they test our ability to alert, notify, assemble and deploy JTF-CS members within higher headquarters timeline,” Buffamante said.
It started with a notional scenario of a CBRN attack within the U.S. A call went out to JTF-CS personnel to come into the headquarters, bags packed and ready to head out the door. Once the team was assembled, the team was briefed on the scenario and how travel plans would unfold.
After the briefing, vehicles were prepared for the trip to the APOE. In this scenario, the APOE was Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, where a team from the 735th Supply Chain Operations Group weighed and measured each vehicle, inspected cargo and created load plans for the aircraft.
Although the DRE was specifically for JTF-CS personnel, their mission could not be completed without the help of the different branches and multiple units that partner with the task force. Exercises like DREs bring together these moving parts to ensure people and things move smoothly and as seamlessly as possible.
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Nicholas Lander, a small air terminal supervisor with the 735th SCOG at Langley AFB , was there to help with the inspections. “This is a positive thing [the joint forces] do. Because of these exercises, when time comes to deploy, they can get to where they need to go quickly.”
Once the vehicles passed inspection, they moved on the flight line where the JTF-CS teams assembled ramps to the aircraft. Then drivers backed the vehicles on to the C-17 Globemaster III with the help of the loadmasters from the 315th Airlift Wing in Charleston, S.C.
“This DRE is good training for us as well,” said Air Force Master Sgt. James Fuller, a loadmaster with the 300th Airlift Squadron. “We don’t need special loading material with the tactical vehicles like Humvees – they just roll on and roll off.” With the box trucks in JTF-CS’s fleet, however, the special ramps, called approach shoring, are necessary to keep parts from dragging on the cargo ramp as they load. “[The exercise] is good practice because of the special equipment.”
If practice makes perfect, then JTF-CS is ready to be called up with the right force, right response, and right expertise. In the pursuit of excellence, consistent training and process improvement is a must that the unit practices every day.