Feature Search

Andersen enables joint mission success

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Brian Bahret
  • 36th Wing Public Affairs
ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam --  Demonstrating its strategic airlift capability, the Air Force delivered $750 million in equipment and personnel, including a special operations submarine to Guam Monday. 

The 22nd Airlift Squadron from Travis Air Force Base, Calif., loaded one of their C-5s at Hickam AFB, Hawaii, with the Navy's 200,000-pound Advance SEAL Delivery System, support equipment and personnel, and delivered it to Andersen. 

"Swiftly transporting the Navy's specialized war fighting capability from one part of the world to another using air transportation displays our ability to project U.S. military forces anywhere in the world within days," said Lt. Col. Jim Drape, commander of the 734th Air Mobility Squadron. 

The delivery also highlights the new way the military executes war -- jointly.
"The DoD is becoming more and more focused on planning and executing missions jointly," he said. "This mission is one piece of that joint execution." 

"It's great to be able to help the other services and see how they operate," added Capt. Kendall Gillespie, pilot for the 22nd Airlift Squadron. "We're always up in the sky and they're in the sea. It's good to see how we work together." 

On arrival, Andersen Airmen quickly secured the aircraft and provided support services for the passengers, aircrew and cargo. 

Navy Lt. Cmdr. Mason Ward, SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 1 pilot, spoke with the Airmen present and discussed the importance of the delivery. 

"The (airlift) mission is very important," he said. "Many lives depend on the successful delivery of it." 

"Normally large bulk items are transported via ship," he said. "This however was an execution of our joint wartime capability at its finest." 

Colonel Drape said this is the second time Andersen has helped moved the Advanced Seal Delivery System. The last was in 2005. 

The delivery helped emphasize Andersen's role in the defense transportation system, he said. 

"We don't transport boxes; we move warfighting equipment and supplies," Colonel Drape said. "From household goods to joint assets, every mission the Aerial Port touches directly affects the war fighter." 

In this case, the objective was to safely transport and offload the submarine and passengers. 

According to Commander Ward, the SEALS are using the ASDS for a Naval exercise.
"Using the ASDS we can deliver the SEALS clandestinely and insert them into any costal area we need to access," he said. 

Since Guam is the United States most western territory, it offers the military an excellent opportunity to project its power, he added. 

Andersen's strategic location places bullets, beans, and beds in close proximity to Southeast Asia, and the Philippines and provides "the highest quality peacetime and wartime support to project global power and reach from our vital location in the Pacific," said Colonel Drape. 

The 734th is the "global reach" portion. 

"We are able to provide 24/7 air mobility support for our Armed Forces without foreign policy limitations," he said. "The aerial port provides the Commander, U.S. Pacific Command extraordinary operational flexibility in the Western Pacific and East Asia. If you need your equipment there quickly, AMC will get it there."