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Angel Thunder: Exercise or action movie?

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Tim Beckham
  • 355th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  "Execute, execute, execute!" That's how the exercise scenario began.

The next sound was a huge explosion. A rocket-propelled grenade had just struck a military convoy and the air was suddenly filled with black smoke. Nearly 10 minutes later, as the smoke started to dissipate, the faint sounds of terror took over. More than two dozen people were trapped in a flipped bus, and the enemy was still lurking out of sight.

What might have been a lost cause turned into a miracle, as a half dozen Air Force pararescuemen parachuted down from the sky. It didn't take them long to land, square their gear away, analyze the situation and act. In a flash, they were at the scene pulling the trapped and wounded out of the bus.

One by one, the victims were carried away to safety. From behind a building, a smoke grenade was lobbed 40 feet into an open dirt field and, within seconds, green smoke began to fill the surrounding area. Minutes later, a Navy-medical helicopter landed and airlifted away as many wounded as it could hold. As soon as the helicopter took off, another one landed and carried away more injured personnel.

An Army Apache helicopter circled overhead, surveying the surrounding landscape for possible threats. Then, an A-10 Thunderbolt II swooped down and laid cover fire across the battlefield.

What looked like a scene from an action movie was actually exercise Angel Thunder, and it was definitely a mass-casualty day.

Davis-Monthan was the home base for the annual combat search and rescue exercise, but operations took place between and within urban areas of Arizona and New Mexico. From July 9 to 20, Angel Thunder provided one-of-a-kind training through intricately planned scenarios conducted in locations that realistically simulate downrange settings.

Maj. Gen. Douglas Raaberg, Air Combat Command's director of air and space operations, said, "We have to get better at combat search and rescue." He emphasized the word "combat."

"Things can change so quickly," he said, "and that's why we do these exercises."

The exercise united personnel and resources from the Air Force, Air Force Reserves, Air National Guard, Army Special Forces, Army National Guard, Navy, and Drug Enforcement Administration. It was the first exercise of its kind to combine DOD and non-DOD assets.

Thomas Cannon, a program analyst for the DEA's recovery unit, said it makes sense to train with military rescue units, since the DEA has a lot of people in the same places as DOD assets.

"We came here to show what we can bring to the table," Mr. Cannon said. "Now we feel more confident in our ability to coordinate with DOD personnel rescue assets in the case of an actual rescue mission."

The command-and-control center for the exercise was located at D-M's own Desert Lightning City, a simulated deployed location. Capt. Jennifer Saraceno, an intelligence officer with the 563rd Operational Support Squadron here, directed much of the action from DLC's "White Cell" tent. She said the realism of the scenarios, coupled with the unique training locations and variety of participants, made the exercise especially useful.

"It's great because I get to teach my folks in hands-on situations," she said. "They're learning from their mistakes, and they'll be better prepared to support a real rescue mission in combat. Everyone can work together, so everything happens faster.

"You just can't get this anywhere else."

During the 10 training days, 350 people participated in 18 CSAR events, and 106 total sorties were flown for a total of 326 flying hours.

"This was an awesome exercise," said Col. Lee dePalo, commander of the 563rd Rescue Group here and Angel Thunder air boss. "To make it even better, it was a Total Force and joint-force operation."

According to General Raaberg, things are only going to get bigger for Angel Thunder.

"What we are here for is to really begin to look at the future and make this exercise a joint-coalition exercise," he said. "This has been one of the most productive CSAR exercises."