By Skies Magazine | March 6, 2013 Estimated reading time 4 minutes, 53 seconds.
The busy airspace of North Carolina hosted the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), the Canadian Army, the United States Army, and the United States Air Force (USAF) during February’s Joint Operational Access Exercise (JOAX) 13-02 at Fort Bragg.
We have a long history of working jointly with other nations, said RCAF 8 Wing commander, Col Sean Friday. The JOAX is valuable to us as we get to work with our allies under realistic training scenarios, exchange best practices, and learn from each other.
More than 50 members from 8 Wing/CFB Trenton participated in this exercise. The Canadian Army deployed approximately 400 soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, the Royal Canadian Regiment (3 RCR), together with other soldiers from 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group, to learn and exchange best practices with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, who hosted the exercise. This is the third year that 3 RCR has participated in this annual exercise.
The JOAX is a major airborne exercise that is aimed at validating the readiness in airborne and air assault operation, said Maj Tyler Holland, 8 Wing detachment officer and an exchange officer with the RCAF from the U.S. Marine Corps. Our participation in this exercise included tactical airdrop and air transport missions as part of a large multinational package.
436 Transport Squadron sent its CC-130J Hercules aircraft, while 429 Transport Squadron sent its CC-177 Globemaster III in support of the exercise.
Col Friday noted that maintaining an important balance between the training and employment of resources is a priority of his Wing.
This exercise provided our personnel with a high readiness training opportunity, encompassing the concepts of modern combat and interoperability with our allies, he noted.
Capt Jordan Forbes, a CC-130J Hercules pilot from 436 Transport Squadron, said that participating in this exercise provided him with a unique tactical flying experience.
Flying around Fort Bragg is challenging because of the busy airspace, considering the nearby commercial airport in Fayetteville, and international airports that are considered to be a short flying distance from us. It was an excellent learning experience for me, he stated.
Capt Forbes mentioned that, in the beginning, it was a little bit hectic in terms of planning as they were trying to get a feel for the area; but, after they settled in, planning became easier in order to accomplish the different flying missions.
Sometimes we had two launches and each one had about 70 or more jumpers in it, said Capt Forbes. When we took them into a drop zone, we did some tactical flying manoeuvres as part of our training, and also to make it realistic for the guys who jumped out of our Herc.
The JOAX was an excellent opportunity for 8 Wing members to be exposed to such a large operation with the U.S. military.
Maintainers from 436 Squadron and 429 Squadron enjoyed meeting their counterparts from the USAF. Fort Bragg was very gracious in sharing their facility and welcoming the RCAF crew.
Working there was a memorable experience, said Capt Forbes.
