AUGUST 30, 2024 – The second annual Advanced Recapture Recovery Operational Warfighter exercise successfully took place at Camp Guernsey, Aug. 5-23. Convoy Response Force teams from F.E. Warren Air Force Base; Minot AFB, North Dakota; and Malmstrom AFB, Montana, had the opportunity to train and execute asset protection procedures.
Last year, CRF teams successfully participated in the inaugural ARROW iteration, experiencing Air Force Global Strike Command’s newest revision. This year, the trend continued with each CRF team taking a week each to test their skills during multiple planned ambushes and attacks.
CRF teams are tasked with the protection of military assets during movements both to, from, and in the expansive missile fields of Minot AFB, F.E. Warren AFB and Malmstrom AFB. Teams continue to work with several different on-base agencies and local law enforcement teams in order to ensure the safety and security of military assets while in transit and on site.
ARROW continues to use the train-pause-train program during exercises, a program specifically developed to sharpen skills in the moment allowing the cadre to pause the exercise in the moment to instruct Airmen, rather than retrace and remember back at their home stations where details may have been lost.
“We’re assessing their ability to recapture and protect resources, we put teams through scenarios they might not be able to see at home station,” said Tech. Sgt. Kyree Joppy, 90th Ground Combat Training Squadron formal instructor and exercise coordinator. “It’s big for them to come here to show their capabilities while being a good place for them to test their weapons and vehicle capabilities on live ranges.”
ARROW is also the debut of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle in a simulated combat scenario marking an Air Force wide first, underscoring AFGC’s modernization line of effort.
“The JLTV is the Department of Defense’s pick to replace the Humvee and with that in mind, that is what has been selected as the vehicle for AFGSC both in the missile field and CRF,” said Master Sgt. Kevin Brown, AFGSC A3 training and development team member and one of the head AFGSC coordinators for ARROW. “It’s got amazing capability, better range, higher top speed and its off-road capabilities far exceed the Bearcats and Humvees. This is a pretty good way for our Airmen to come out here and use these things and utilize them in the capacity they’ll be used in down the road as we phase out the Humvees.”
Through the introduction of the JLTV’s capabilities in the field and with continued springtime exercises like Nuclear Convoy Course, teams are given the chance to prepare and analyze their skills in a training environment specifically designed to mirror the challenges of the missile field.
Now with ARROW’s second year wrapped up, the exercise has again proved its ability to train, evaluate and sharpen the skills of CRF teams from all three missile wings; allowing them, and the wings, to ensure the nuclear enterprise’s continued safety and security.
By Senior Airman Landon Gunsauls
90th Missile Wing Public Affairs