Shogun-BH 09-02

Staff Sgt. Shawn'Tina Williams, from the 18th Force Support Squadron military personnel section, processes Col. Jon Wolfe, 18th Operations Group deputy commander, and Col. Lenny Richoux, 18th Wing vice commander, through a deployment line during the Beverly High 09-2 Local Operational Readiness Exercise May 12. The LORE tests base personnel on their combat readiness for real world emergency/combat events. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Angelique Perez)

Kadena Shoguns practice their “mobility machine”

Published May 12, 2009
By Tech. Sgt. Rey Ramon
18th Wing Public Affairs

KADENA AIR BASE, Japan -- Kadena Airmen are experiencing a new dimension of training during Beverly High 09-2 from May 11-15.

Over the past several exercises, the 18th Wing practiced fighting in place [from Kadena] and receiving other forces into Kadena. This exercise practices the possibility the wing may deploy to another location and fight from there.

"The wing is practicing moving a good portion of its combat power to a fictional forward location we call Base X," said Lt. Col. Steven Plank, 18th Wing chief of plans, programs, exercises and inspections division.

Kadena Airmen are simulating being forward deployed by using a small portion of the base as Base X.

"This is a significant difference in that units must employ combat airpower from unfamiliar facilities without all of the support they are used to having at Kadena," said Colonel Plank.

The Air Force is chartered with delivering combat airpower anywhere in the world on short notice and the colonel is confident the Airmen will deliver that airpower through this exercise.

"They learn what it takes to generate, mobilize, set up operations, and employ from an austere location," said the colonel.

The exercise is a 24-hour operation which requires Airmen to work 12-hour shifts to generate aircraft sorties, process cargo, deploy personnel, and execute a wide variety of functions in support of simulated combat operations.

The colonel said lessons learned in BH 09-2 have direct application to operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom. Through the course of the week, this exercise will show Team Kadena how well they work as a team in a stressful simulated combat environment.

According to Maj. Jeremy Seals, 67th Fighter Squadron XP, more than 200 evaluation team members will be assessing the 18th Wing's ability to meet its simulated wartime taskings, just like in any other Local Operational Readiness Exercise.

Within the combat scenario, there will be additional simulated situations the wing must respond to -- like emergency management exercises, fire drills, self-aid buddy care scenarios and ability to survive and operate tests.