TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE -- The 615th Contingency Response Wing recently sent approximately 50 Airmen to the bi-annual U.S. Air Force Weapons School Mobility Air Forces Exercise at Nellis and Creech Air Force bases in Nevada.

Approximately 1,500 people using more than 50 aircraft from more than a dozen Armed Forces installations participated in the exercise. It is the largest air mobility exercise in the United States.

The exercise trains aircrews to work with fighter aircraft, sensors, intelligence and space platforms while also dropping troops and cargo into combat zones. This year, more than 400 paratroopers dotted the sky above the Nevada Test and Training Range as fighter aircraft worked an air assault raid.

The 615th CRW's role was helping facilitate the training, said Maj. Jay Johnson, director of operations for the 571st Global Mobility Readiness Squadron. The goal of the exercise is to help the different services work jointly to improve their skills for use during overseas contingencies.

The scope of the exercise was too large for the Airmen stationed at Nellis to handle on their own, so the 615th CRW was brought in to help with a variety of responsibilities regarding the arrival, departure and maintenance of the aircraft, said Major Johnson.
"Getting an opportunity to be part of weapons-school exercise is a fantastic opportunity for us to show capabilities to rest of AMC," Major Johnson said. "This is what we do. We have a chance to show our capabilities. Our Airmen are drawing from real-world experience and using it in the exercise."

The volume of activity was heavily concentrated into one portion of the Nov. 18 event, when the members of the 615th faced the arrival of multiple aircraft in a short time frame, said Master Sgt. Travis Woodruff, 572nd Global Mobility Squadron.

Sergeant Woodruff said Travis was instrumental in all aspects of the MAFEX, from taxiing and parking aircraft to checking their loads for balance and hazardous materials to refuelling them.

"Anything they need, we are their one-stop shop to get all of it done for them," said Major Johnson.

Though the event was a single-day exercise, members of the 615th CRW worked more than four days, helping the members of various services arrive, participate and depart before heading home themselves.

Nellis Air Force Base public affairs contributed to this story.