JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. –
U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force personnel assigned to Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia partnered with U.S. Navy service members assigned to Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, Va., to participate in Operation Resolute Endeavor II Dec. 5 through Dec. 9, 2016.
Operation Resolute Endeavor II was a joint exercise that trained units preparing for an upcoming deployment and tested the capabilities of the 633rd Security Forces Squadron, Army and Navy logistics units in a joint capacity.
“The big picture is joint logistics over the shore,” said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Christopher Ricks, 633rd SFS training NCO in charge. “The Army and Navy worked together to get logistics moved from boats to land and the Security Forces role was to protect the port to allow a smooth transition and deal with any threat.”
The exercise began with 633rd SFS breaching Third Port at Ft. Eustis, Va., for the first time via boat.
”On day one we made entry onto the port via boat, they dropped us off and we cleared the port of secondary devices like IEDs,” said U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Aaron Vanley, 633rd SFS unit trainer. “Then we posted up in our security positions and had roaming patrols keeping watch for any other threats in the area.”
As a joint exercise, the branches had to work together to accomplish the mission of successfully loading and unloading cargo from Navy ships while 633rd SFS members maintained security.
“Being able to work with other branches of services provides us with insight of different methods and operational capabilities that you’re not used to seeing,” said U.S. Army 1st Lt. Mario Lopes, 11th Transportation Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment Operation Resolute Endeavor II battle captain. “It broadens our horizons. Plus, we work with people we never have before and enhance those relationships.”
According to Ricks, there was downtime scheduled between operations and missions, to give the Air Force and Army personnel time to get to know each other.
“We worked the schedule so we could give our guys some downtime to intermingle and integrate,” said Ricks. “Our young Soldiers and Airmen got the chance to see that we are all the same. That helped out a lot on the battlefield when our guys were running around trying to protect them. They knew who they were working with, so they were able to put a person behind the uniform.”
Aside from preparing and training for deployments, the focus for the exercise was to build camaraderie and trust between sister services and military personnel.
“I hope they take the importance of the joint operations concept because the more we deploy downrange, anywhere we go there are Army, Navy or Marines,” said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Brian Stilgebouer, 633rd SFS Flight Chief. “So using the interoperability and communication with them to get the mission done is important.”