CRW Airmen hone JTF-PO skills during joint exercise

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Liliana Moreno
  • 621st Contingency Response Wing
Approximately 120 Airmen from the 821st Contingency Response Group stationed at Travis Air Force Base, California, deployed as part of a Joint Task Force Port-Opening exercise, June 6-15.

The exercise, Turbo Distribution 17-2 is being conducted along with 51 Soldiers from the 688th Rapid Port Opening Element stationed at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, and 13 officials from the Defense Logistics Agency Headquarters.

“We all come into this team with different capabilities, and different areas of expertise,” said Col. Justin Niederer, 821st CRG commander and JTF-PO commander. “It’s great to combine the CRG’s unique air base opening capability with the surface moving ability of RPOE, and the acquisitions and contracting experience from DLA to build a seamless team as we prepare to respond anywhere in the world for combat and humanitarian operations.”

The JTF-PO was deployed to demonstrate their ability to arrive at an austere airfield, receive airlifted cargo, move the cargo by truck to a forward location and stage it for distribution during a humanitarian aid and disaster relief scenario in the fictitious country of Michiganistan.

“The assessment team came in and met all their objectives, submitted all their JMETS (Joint Mission Essential Tasks) on time, assessed the airfield, and made it ready for use,” said Niederer. “The RPOE Element came in, and the DLA team integrated with the CR Forces, and have built a seamless team here on the ground.”

Turbo Distribution provides valuable training to Airmen across all career fields. The JTF-PO team is made up of Airmen from a section of jobs, including security forces, aerial porters, aircraft maintenance, supply, medical, transportation and others deployed in support of the exercise.

“Working together with other services and agencies in a joint environment provides an excellent opportunity for Airmen to learn new ways of doing things,” said Capt. Daniel Richardson, JTF-PO J3 air operations officer. “They also learn how to effectively work together with unfamiliar partners. Most members in the CRW are being exposed to joint operations sooner than most would in their career fields, and that is an extremely valuable opportunity for them.”

“Any mission the CRW is tasked to execute will always involve joint partners, so it is imperative that we train the way we fight and that will always be joint,” said Richardson.

The 621st Contingency Response Wing is highly-specialized in training and rapidly deploying personnel to quickly open airfields and establish, expand, sustain, and coordinate air mobility operations. From wartime taskings to disaster relief, the 621 CRW extends Air Mobility Command's reach in deploying people and equipment around the globe.