AUGUST 12, 2024 – Active duty and reservists from the U.S. Air Force and Marine Corps conducted a C-5 Galaxy defuel and simulated missile threat evacuation operation during Exercise Northern Strike 24-2 at Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport, Mich., Aug. 9, 2024.
Air Force personnel from Dover Air Force Base and the Michigan Air National Guard as well as Marine Corps Reservists from Wilmington, Delaware defueled a C-5 Galaxy into R-11 Refueler trucks.
“We have our basic refueling capabilities, but this is more specialized,” said Staff Sgt. Jackson Kincaid, aircraft maintenance technician with the 123rd Contingency Response Group, Kentucky Air National Guard.
Within 20 minutes of the C-5 landing, the mock forward operating base received simulated intelligence of a missile alert threat.
“We had a missile alert threat coming into our base and had to quickly turn around the plane and defuel it in a timely manner,” said Kincaid.
The defuel was accomplished in approximately less than 20 minutes.
“That’s pretty fast for a C-5 and the capability we were trying to prove.
We accomplished it very well,” said Kincaid.
With the C-5 successfully defueled, the Air National Guard contingency response teams involved were forced to evacuate.
“Once we found out that we had to get out of there and flush the system, we got back to the base and we were exfilled appropriately,” said Kincaid.
Personnel were evacuated using three U.S. Navy H-60 Seahawks.
The exercise not only tested the efficiency of the refueling process in high-stress scenarios but also prepared participants for rapid, coordinated responses to emergency situations.
Overall, the training exercise underscored the importance of agile combat employment, multi-capable airmanship and joint operations. In preparing for diverse and complex military scenarios, the exercise ensured readiness and efficiency for both domestic and international contexts.
“We want to be able to prove that we can get planes and fuel to where it needs to be at any given point around the globe, whether domestic or international,” said Kincaid. “We know that when we have these kinds of operations like this with our joint partners, we feel very confident that we can project that power wherever it needs to be around the globe.”
Northern Strike 24-2, one of the Department of Defense’s largest reserve component readiness exercises, is scheduled to take place at Michigan’s National All Domain Warfighting Center (NADWC) from August 3-17, 2024. Over 6,300 participants from 32 states and territories and several international participants will converge at the NADWC. Northern Strike is the premier reserve component training event designed to build readiness with joint and partner forces in all domains of warfare.
Story by Airman Jordaan Kvale
194th Wing