Mobility Planning

More than 20 crew members from eight countries participated in a Mobility Guardian planning session at JB Lewis-McChord, Wash., on Sept. 21. The first Mobility Guardian exercise—the follow-on to Air Mobility Command’s mobility rodeo, which was cancelled due to sequestration—is scheduled for August 2017. Representatives from the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Pakistan, Canada, Taiwan, Brazil, and Australia all attended the planning conference and will participate in the inaugural exercise. “This is going to be a train-like-you-fight exercise,” said Lt. Col. Dan DeYoung, the Mobility Guardian director at JB Lewis-McChord, Wash., in a Sept. 22 release. “This will test us to be more prepared and the scenario that’s being created is one that is plausible. We are exercising our capabilities in Mobility Guardian, where in the past we have served more as support, others will be supporting us.” McChord will serve as the primary hub during the exercise, which will focus on air drop, air refueling, aeromedical evacuation, joint forcible entry, and contingency response operations. (See also: Mobility Reset from the June issue of Air Force Magazine.)