JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – The 62nd Airlift Wing kicked off 2021 Exercise Rainier War on April 19, 2021. Exercise Rainier War is a major exercise for the Wing, including multiple airlift and fighter assets, joint partners and special operations forces.
Exercise Rainier War evaluates the Wing’s ability to plan, generate and execute a deployment tasking, sustain contingency operations and demonstrate Full Spectrum Readiness while in a Contested, Degraded and Operationally Limited (CDO) environment. It also tests the Wing’s ability to maintain and sustain essential home station missions during and after deployment operations.
“This is the most robust exercise we’ve ever executed as Team McChord,” said Col. Erin Staine-Pyne, 62nd AW commander. “I am very excited to see the results of our exercise in order to gauge our level of readiness and enhance our national security.”
This year’s Rainier War has three lines of effort: Agile Combat Employment, High-End Tactical Training, and Accelerate Change in how we conduct warfighting.
The exercise consists of two phases. Phase 1 is designed to process and prepare personnel and cargo for a deployment for a Main Operating Base (MOB) and demonstrate their abilities to survive and operate in a chemical, biological, radioactive, nuclear or explosive environment. Personnel will operate in a Contested, Degraded and Operationally limited environment, particularly with enemy disruption of the base’s communications capabilities, forcing Airmen to consistently adapt to changing conditions and generate creative solutions.
“Phase 2 of the exercise will evaluate the units’ ability to employ the force, project combat power, and to perform wartime or contingency taskings against a near-peer adversary,” said Maj. Brett Troutman, 62nd AW exercise director.
During Phase 2, units and personnel will be simulating operations from a base cluster following a deployment tasking. Personnel will be deploying and conducting exercise operations at Travis Air Force Base, California, which will serve as the Main Operating Base and hub of the base cluster. Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, and Yakima, Washington, will all serve as Forward Operating Bases.
Additionally, C-17s will conduct KC-46 air refueling operations, participate in F-15E escort sorties, and transport various assets into a simulated combat environment including a Stryker Mission Command Package, an RQ-7 unmanned aerial vehicle, and a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System.
For more information, visit https://www.mcchord.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2578733/62nd-aw-kicks-off-rainier-war/
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