JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas -- More than 100 Airmen from the 433rd Airlift Wing with Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland arrived at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas, to participate in the exercise Alamo Express Sept. 15-19, 2016. The Alamo Express is the 433rd AW’s premier training exercise, which prepares Airmen for real-world situations.
“Alamo Express is a local exercise for the wing, piggybacking on a larger contingency plan for the Air Force Reserve," said Maj. John Sebesta, 68th Airlift Squadron acting officer in charge of Alamo Express. "It was to demonstrate to, not only the wing, but also AFRC, that when they give us the call, we can do it.”
“We are demonstrating the C-5M’s capabilities; we are demonstrating the 433rd Airlift Wing personnel's abilities to deploy and the 68th's abilities to operate and for them to get us where we need to go,” said Sebesta.
To maximize the effectiveness of the exercise, the wing requested support from the 502nd Air Base Wing, JBSA-Lackland, Texas; 452nd Air Mobility Wing, March Air Reserve Base, California; Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, U.S. Coast Guard Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi and the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Steelhead, Port Aransas, Texas, to participate.
Simultaneously, just north of Corpus Christi at Kelly Field Annex, a team of flight nurses and technicians with the 433rd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, also players in the Alamo Express exercise, prepared patients for transport in a C-17 Globemaster III with the 437th Airlift Wing, Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina, on a local flight.
This medium-scale exercise, which is held at different locations annually, gives members in the wing an opportunity to hone their skills and prepare the wing in meeting their mission of providing combat-ready forces for deployment.
The five-day exercise began with members processing through a mobility processing line before departing Lackland. Once arriving at the simulated overseas location, the 433rd Airlift Control Flight members began setting up a fully functioning base to manage aircraft flight following maintenance of aircraft, loading and unloading of cargo and command and control.
Teamwork between the 26th Aerial Port Squadron and the 68th and 356th Airlift Squadrons, made the exercise flow smoothly. Airmen from all three squadrons processed cargo and manifested passengers for sorties, which was constant throughout the exercise. Maintainers from the 433rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron worked long hours ensuring all sorties were executed safely and efficiently.
Members from the Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team, Camp Mabry, Austin, Texas, were one of the several players in the Alamo Express exercise. Before loading personnel and equipment on the C-5M Super Galaxy aircraft, the WMDCST is required to go through an inspection process, ensuring its equipment is properly weighed, stowed and secured for transport.
“The 433rd was a key enabler for facilitating this exercise for us,” said Army Guard Lt. Col. William Phillips, 6th CST commander. “This type of training becomes very challenging (hard to get) for us when it comes to the availability of aircraft assets.”
During the exercise, U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Steelhead, Port Aransas, Texas, and the U.S. Coast Guard Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi assisted in the exercise by providing water and air support for water survival training in the Gulf of Mexico. Pilots and aircrew personnel spent the day learning techniques they will need after egressing from an aircraft, such as donning life vests, using MK 12 and MK 13 Day/Night ignition flares and getting into a 25-manned life raft and hoisted from a Life Preserver Unit to a hovering MH-65 Dolphin helicopter.
Tech. Sgt. Justin Samaniego, 433rd Operation Support Squadron survival, escape, resistance, and evasion specialist was in charge of instructing land and water survival training during exercise Alamo Express.
“The overall objective was to give them a realistic scenario,” he said. “The Coast Guard took them out to where they couldn’t see land or the boat; so they could see the issues they will have to deal with in an open-ocean environment, like getting food and water. It was really good as far as the exposure goes, for them to see it’s not comfortable, but doable.”