MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. --
A lieutenant assigned to the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center here but stationed in Texas said he’s more accustomed to riding in military helicopters than he is at looking at one hovering mere inches from the top of his head.
Second Lt. Adam Brewer took part recently in a joint, total force exercise at the Texas Army National Guard’s Martindale Army Airfield, located to the east of downtown San Antonio. The exercise, dubbed Operation Alamo Evacuation, simulated the delivery of relief supplies to military members stationed at a remote location in Southwest Asia and medical evacuations.
Taking part in the one-day exercise on Nov. 18 were Texas Army National Guard Soldiers, Air Force Reserve and active duty Airmen. Brewer was the pick-up zone officer-in-charge of the pathfinder team responsible for the mission’s command and control cell.
His duties included ensuring the safety of all personnel on the ground and rigging pallets of supplies to the belly of hovering UH-60 Black Hawk medical evacuation helicopters.
“I’m prior security forces and flew tons of helo missions,” said Brewer. “That being said, I have never stood under a Black Hawk as it hovered a foot above my head … that was a new experience.”
When he’s not sling-loading copters, Brewer is the chief of the director’s action group for the AFLCMC Human Resources Division at Joint-Base San Antonio. The division is a geographically separated unit of the AFLCMC here.
Brewer was asked to take part in the exercise by the deputy director of the Air Force Personnel Operations Activity at JBSA.
“He wanted to give officers who work in support functions a chance to get their boots dirty,” said Brewer.
Bringing together total force service members for the exercise proved beneficial not only for training but also for developing inter-service relationships.
“This was a tremendous opportunity for our units to work together,” said Army Lt. Col. Jose Reyes, Texas ARNG Company C, 2-149 Aviation commander. “We’re building relationships. We’ve established an association, successfully executed this mission, and now we can plan on future opportunities to reinforce our joint, total force partnership.”
In all, exercise players delivered more than 36,000 pounds of cargo and completed the medical evacuation of 27 people.
The experience of having worked toward a common goal with Soldiers and active duty and Reserve Airmen with differing skill sets was not lost on Brewer.
“Our flawless and safe execution (of the exercise mission) is a testament to the detailed inter-service planning, mutual trust in each component’s competence and leadership’s willingness to operationalize outside-the-box solutions,” he said. “We demonstrated that joint, total force activities provide amazing opportunities for learning and for expanding the capability of the Department of Defense.”
(Col. Kjall Gopaul, deputy director, Air Force Personnel Operations Activity, contributed to this article.)