Fort Bliss Monitor

32nd invades Nellis AFB

Sgt. Lewis Hilburn
32nd AAMDC Public Affairs

The 108th ADA Bde. supported 32nd AAMDC during Joint Red Flag by providing Patriot support.

NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. – Throughout the connected tents everyone could hear, “missile launch from El Dorado to Tucson.” Without hesitation Soldiers went to work making sure the missile did not hit it’s projected target. Proof of their work came across the intercom, “all missiles down. I repeat ,all missiles down.”

Soldiers of 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command were at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., to participate in Joint Red Flag, a joint service/coalition exercise that ended April 2. Soldiers in-processed at the Nellis Air Force Base JRF in-processing center. The center gave them everything they would need for their duration of the exercise: rooms, maps, transportation, badges and access to a dining facility.

A week prior to the exercise start the Soldiers spent rehearsing and working out bugs. The exercise officially got underway March 21 and lasted until April 1. Troops applied the skills they had been trained for to this simulated wartime scenario, according to Maj. Mike Tronolone, chief of current operations for 32nd AAMDC for the exercise. The 32nd’s mission was to provide an air and missile defense support for critical assets and an early warning to the force and the mock country of Heartland.

“The 32nd AAMDC focused the majority of its exercise training objectives on validating OIF lessons learned. The Patriot units performed extremely well by focusing on maximizing friendly protection and system effectiveness,” he said.

Spc. Phylicia Davis, signal support systems specialist for 32nd AAMDC, said what she learned the most from this exercise was working and figuring things out on her own. Training prior to this exercise helped Davis complete her mission. “Working with the Air Force equipment was a little different and the phone numbers and dialing procedures were a bit confusing, but for the most part it was the same.”

“This exercise fully challenged all elements of the 32nd AAMDC. The stress prepared the unit to execute its mission during combat operations. This exercise has validated our ability to integrate all operational pillars in support of theater missile operations,” Tronolone said. “What made this mission such a success, were the lessons learned from Operation Enduring Freedom.



www.bliss.army.mil	Published for the Fort Bliss/El Paso, Texas Community	April 7, 2005

<map name="boxmap-b4"> <area shape="rect" coords="0, 589, 120, 600" href="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" > <area coords="0,0,10000,10000" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=&creative=92501&camp=8117&link_code=dl1&path=subst/misc/amazon-cobrand-cc/v3/marketing-from-associates-step1.html/ref%3Db1_assoc_29" > </map>	32nd invades Nellis AFB Sgt. Lewis Hilburn 32nd AAMDC Public Affairs The 108th ADA Bde. supported 32nd AAMDC during Joint Red Flag by providing Patriot support. NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. – Throughout the connected tents everyone could hear, “missile launch from El Dorado to Tucson.” Without hesitation Soldiers went to work making sure the missile did not hit it’s projected target. Proof of their work came across the intercom, “all missiles down. I repeat ,all missiles down.” Soldiers of 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command were at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., to participate in Joint Red Flag, a joint service/coalition exercise that ended April 2. Soldiers in-processed at the Nellis Air Force Base JRF in-processing center. The center gave them everything they would need for their duration of the exercise: rooms, maps, transportation, badges and access to a dining facility. A week prior to the exercise start the Soldiers spent rehearsing and working out bugs. The exercise officially got underway March 21 and lasted until April 1. Troops applied the skills they had been trained for to this simulated wartime scenario, according to Maj. Mike Tronolone, chief of current operations for 32nd AAMDC for the exercise. The 32nd’s mission was to provide an air and missile defense support for critical assets and an early warning to the force and the mock country of Heartland. “The 32nd AAMDC focused the majority of its exercise training objectives on validating OIF lessons learned. The Patriot units performed extremely well by focusing on maximizing friendly protection and system effectiveness,” he said. Spc. Phylicia Davis, signal support systems specialist for 32nd AAMDC, said what she learned the most from this exercise was working and figuring things out on her own. Training prior to this exercise helped Davis complete her mission. “Working with the Air Force equipment was a little different and the phone numbers and dialing procedures were a bit confusing, but for the most part it was the same.” “This exercise fully challenged all elements of the 32nd AAMDC. The stress prepared the unit to execute its mission during combat operations. This exercise has validated our ability to integrate all operational pillars in support of theater missile operations,” Tronolone said. “What made this mission such a success, were the lessons learned from Operation Enduring Freedom.