ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Marines with Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 152, stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, conducted tactical air navigation drills in support of Exercise Kodiak Mace at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, May 26, 2016.
Exercise Kodiak Mace is an annual exercise designed to give U.S. Marines the opportunity to train in an open environment with flares, simulated assault missiles and low altitude tactical navigation drills.
The squadron’s aircrew trained with their aircraft onboard flares system by conducting flying maneuvers where ground personnel fired simulated assault missiles at the aircraft for pilots to divert by using flares as defensive tools.
“It’s vital for the flight crew of VMGR-152 to train on threat reaction,” said Capt. Michael Yim, a KC-130J pilot with VMGR-152. “There’s a high probability that our squadron would fly in a combat environment if anything were to ever happen where we would have to fight in the Pacific Area of Operation.”
During these defensive aerial maneuvers, the aircrew was able to practice relying on each other through effective communication and defense mechanism employment.
Practicing these capabilities amongst the entire crew refreshes Marines on their technical skills, interoperability and defensive tactics.
After completing defensive aerial maneuvers, Marines began conducting low altitude tactical navigation drills where pilots maneuvered the aircraft to tactically fly on and off course in a simulated combat environment to evade enemy deterrents.
Performing these drills in this unfamiliar territory is a unique opportunity for the Marines because of the lack of airspace available to conduct these operational events at their home station.
“It’s not the same as being in Japan,” said Lance Cpl. Juan Gulinao, a crew master in-training with VMGR-152. “Here we can do threat reaction, which a lot of the pilots here really enjoy, and a lot of us crew members here in the back are getting a lot of practice that we are unable to get back in Japan.”
These types of training missions keep crew masters and trainee’s current on tactical maneuvers along with communication drills, ensuring this unit will be ready to perform in a combat zone if called upon to do so.