Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 News
    
        Photos

    Week in Photos

    Air Force TV

    Commentaries

    Features

    Art

    About Us
    
        Air Force Senior Leaders
    
        SECAF

    CSAF

    CMSAF

    Biographies

    Fact Sheets

    SECAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library
    
        CSAF Leadership Library 2022

    CSAF Leadership Library 2021

    CSAF Reading List Pre-2020 Archive
    
        2018 CSAF Reading List

    2017 CSAF Reading List

    2016 CSAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library 2023

    CMSAF Leadership Library

    50 Years of the CMSAF

    Adjunct Professors

    Air Force Strategic Documents

    Arctic Strategy

    Empowered Airmen

    State Licensure Portability

    Careers

    AF Federal Advisory Committees

    AF 75th Anniversary

    Policy Updates

    AF Content Management

    Contact Us

    AF Sites
    
        Site RegistrationU.S. Air Force LogoAir Force

        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      Tech. Sgt. Jacob Fountain (left) and Master Sgt. Gary Bryant (right), 815th Airlift Squadron loadmasters, hold on after opening the cargo door ramp while the pilots conduct low-level tactical flight training patterns during a training exercise at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, July 13-16, 2021. The terrain of the mountain, valleys and along with the colder temperatures provided a different challenge for the low-level flights, which were an effective tactic in training for hostile environments. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Jessica Kendziorek)Tech. Sgt. Jacob Fountain and Master Sgt. Gary Bryant, 815th Airlift Squadron loadmasters, brace themselves after opening the cargo door ramp while the pilots conduct low-level tactical flight training patterns during a training exercise at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, July 13-16, 2021. The terrain of the mountains, valleys and the colder temperatures provided a different challenge for the low-level flights, which were an effective tactic in training for hostile environments. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Jessica Kendziorek)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res
        


        An aircraft flies over a body of water near snowy mountains.A C-130J Super Hercules from the 815th Airlift Squadron takes part in a training exercise at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, July 14, 2021. The 815th AS Flying Jennies tested the aircraft and pilot capabilities in a new environment, opposite of their home station of Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Shelton Sherrill)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res
        


        The 815th Airlift Squadron, or Flying Jennies, provided airdrop support for more than 1300 paratroopers from the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Airborne, 25th Infantry Division for their jumps during a training exercise at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, July 13-16, 2021. They also dropped over 30,000 pounds of heavy equipment, completed more than eight hours of low-level tactical flight and more than 15 assault landings during the four-day training exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Jessica Kendziorek)The 815th Airlift Squadron, or Flying Jennies, provide airdrop support for more than 1,300 paratroopers from the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Airborne, 25th Infantry Division during a training exercise at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, July 13-16, 2021. They also dropped over 30,000 pounds of heavy equipment, completed more than eight hours of low-level tactical flight and more than 15 assault landings during the four-day training exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Jessica Kendziorek)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res

Flying Jennies train in AlaskaPublished July 22, 2021
                    
                    By Master Sgt. Jessica Kendziorek
                    
                    
                    403rd Wing Public Affairs
            **JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska (AFNS) --**Leaving the heat, humidity and rain of the south and heading north for cooler temperatures, the 815th Airlift Squadron put their Reserve Airmen to the test in Alaska with both the temperatures and the terrain, July 13-16.
Working with the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Airborne, 25th Infantry Division, the 815th AS provided airlift for more than 1,300 paratroopers for three days, as well as airdrops for heavy equipment on the fourth day, during a training exercise at**Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson**.“Being able to operate effectively and efficiently in multiple climates and in different types of terrain is an important part of our training,” said Maj. George Metros, 815th AS instructor pilot and exercise mission commander.
Hauling cargo, conducting airdrop and airlift is the mission of the 815th AS, the Flying Jennies, but their training is normally performed in locations similar to their home station at**Keesler Air Force Base**, Mississippi, using the **C-130J Super Hercules**.Metros said they are used to working in places like Fort Polk, Louisiana, Fort Benning, Georgia, and Pope AFB, North Carolina.
“Being able to come up here to JBER, to work with the 3rd Wing using their facilities, plus airdrop a unit that we haven’t dropped a whole lot in the past, the 4/25th IBCT (A), and to do that at a location away from home station in a new terrain for us is an excellent exercise training opportunity,” Metros said.
The terrain in Alaska presented a new challenge for the pilots and loadmasters to tackle. The mountains and valleys provide different types of training scenarios and there are more areas to train in.
“The training up here is dynamic,” Metros said. “We essentially deployed a whole package of folks from across the 403rd Wing, from the 36th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, our maintenance group, to our support staff; to come train in an area that is outside of their comfort zone and their normal operations.”
Another major difference for the 815th AS was the Army’s restricted range area in Alaska; this is a special air space reserved just for the military to use, which the 815th AS does not have available to them in Biloxi, Mississippi.
“Having this special-use airspace that we can fly into and we are the only users, makes conducting training operations easier and allows us to accomplish more training opportunities,” Metros said. “We are able to fly into it to drop the heavy equipment, do airdrop operations and do landing-zone operations without worrying about someone coming into our airspace.”
Part of those airdrop operations included personnel drops.
Army Lt. Col. Justin Pritchard, 6th Brigade Engineer Battalion (Airborne) commander, said that his battalion participated in the personnel drops, deploying about 450 parachutes.
“Frankly, having the 815th (AS) here has helped with our proficiency,” Pritchard said. “I was able to jump my assault command post twice this week and all of my companies were able to conduct a tactical assembly. And for us repetition greatly improves our proficiency, so it has been great in that regard.”
Pritchard said they don’t get that many C-130 jumps up here, mostly**C-17 Globemaster III**’s, and sometimes they are limited to either one jump a month or every other month.“This week has been a good week,” he said. “I have had at least half of my Soldiers jump twice, while the others jumped at least once.”
Having completed a jump Wednesday and then coming back again to conduct a second jump Friday, Pritchard said having two airborne operations on different days allowed them to see how they improved throughout the week.
“Friday was much better with preparation in working with the Air Force in particular,” Pritchard said. “As far as interoperability between us, and making sure we are saying the same things, by understanding each other’s terms, I could see that we were more organized than we were on Wednesday.”
Pritchard’s battalion also provided the heavy drops for flights on July 15.
While the Flying Jennies routinely load heavy equipment, conduct combat off-loads, and even do some heavy drops during their normal home-station training, they don’t often get the opportunity to drop heavy equipment.
“We don’t necessarily get to do heavy equipment airdrops like this, we often load Humvees up quite a bit at home,” said Capt. Leesa Froelich, 815th AS pilot and the training exercise deputy mission commander. “But we don’t normally get to drop the Humvees, and being able to airdrop them on the parachutes is different and great training for us.”
During the training exercise, they airdropped more than 30,000 pounds of equipment, something they wouldn’t be able to do back at home, said Master Sgt. Jonathan Parker, 815th AS loadmaster and the exercise Joint Airborne/Air Transportability Training noncommissioned officer in charge.
Another challenge they faced was the assault landing zone in Alaska, which is completely different from the dirt assault strips they normally use.
“Assault strips vary wherever you go and doing the assault landings here on the rock surface was different,” Froelich said. “This terrain presented another type of challenge because we had to make sure that we didn’t use too much reverse to keep the rocks from going into the props and causing damage.”
The pilots and loadmasters also completed another training objective: low-level tactical flying.
This type of flying is used to provide an effective tactic in training for hostile environments, but the terrain in southern Mississippi tends to be over flat, wooded areas or over wetland areas.
“Alaska provided the opportunity for us to experience low-level flight training through a challenging mountainous terrain,” said Capt. Michael Plash, 815th AS pilot. “The terrain, aircraft performance, crew fatigue, airspace environment and weather, were all considerations our crews had to account for.”
The Jennies are used to dealing with the hot, humid Mississippi weather. This exercise gave them another challenge of having to deal with the dry, cool mountain air of Alaska.
“We would like to see the 815th AS come back, in particular in the winter time too,” Pritchard said. “Because the more often we can jump, the readier we will be in order to support any combatant commander worldwide when asked to jump in and seize an airfield, and achieve any missions they give us.”
According to Lt. Col. Matthew Sikkink, 815th AS commander, the winter months would be a little more challenging because these planes don’t normally operate in the Arctic environment.
“The winter months would be a challenge that we would not pass up,” Sikkink said. “Because with more training and early preparation for the Arctic environment, both for the crews and the planes, I think we could definitely overcome that challenge. It would just have to be on a smaller scale for the first one.”
In just four days of flying, the Flying Jennies completed many training objectives of more than 15 assault landings and approximately eight hours of low-level tactical flying hours. Plus the mutual training of personnel and heavy equipment drops the Army needed.
“This is a great relationship that we have built with the 4/25th IBCT (A) and I think we have a bright future with them. They were able to provide us, a Reserve squadron, with specific types of support that we can’t get in our local training area,” Sikkink said.
“I think overall this training exercise was a resounding success and we’d like to try and come back next year.”L/R 



USAF 



AF 



Air Force 



Air Force Reserve Command 



AFRC 



403rd Wing 



Keesler AFB 



Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson 



JBER 



Army 



Flying Jennies 



Joint Training Featured News
        Senior Leader Priorities
                DAF leaders talk budget, reoptimizing the force
                    
                    DAF leaders speak at National Character and Leadership Symposium
                    
                    DAF members recognized during BEYA STEM awards
                    
                    DAF senior enlisted advisors discuss Airmen, Guardians in the fight
                    
                    SecAF Kendall AFA Warfare Symposium Q&A: Reoptimizing for Great Power CompetitionInnovation
                AFWERX director discusses role of tech startups, quick innovation in Great Power Competition
                    
                    DAF delivers lethality at the speed of data during Project Convergence Capstone 4
                    
                    DAF welcomes industry partners to HQ development program
                    
                    DAF announces Spark Tank 2024 finalists
                    
                    Chief Digital, Artificial Intelligence Office to host hackathon in HawaiiMAJCOM News
                Air Combat Command welcomes new commander
                    
                    USAFE-AFAFRICA commander discusses Integrated Air, Missile Defense during Munich Security Conference
                    
                    Flosi to AFMC family: Embrace change, make every day count
                    
                    AMC rises to increasing global tension
                    
                    USAFE-AFAFRICA commander emphasizes five focus areas during AFA Warfare Symposium
 Quick Links
AccessibilityContact UsEqual OpportunityFOIA | Privacy | Section 508Information QualityInspector GeneralJAG Court-Martial DocketLink DisclaimerNo FEAR ActOpen GovernmentOSI Tip LinePlain LanguageQuestionsResilienceRSSSite MapVeterans Crisis LineCareers
Join the Air ForceAir Force BenefitsAir Force CareersAir Force ReserveAir National GuardCivilian ServiceConnect
            Get Social with Us
            
            Official United States Air Force Website
    Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil