Angel Thunder Rescue Exercise to take place at DM

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  • By 010413
DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  Davis-Monthan Air Force Base welcomes Air Combat Command's 6th Angel Thunder Personnel Recovery and Rescue Exercise April 7-20.

During the exercise air operations will include a variety of native and visiting aircraft including the A-10 Thunderbolt II, HH-60G Pave Hawk, HC-130J Combat King II, CH-47 Chinook and UH-1Y Huey.

Angel Thunder participants will partner with local, state and federal agencies, including the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Pima County Sheriff, Cochise County Sheriff, Gila County Sheriff, Graham County Emergency Management, UAMC, JC Lincoln Hospital, the Red Cross and Volunteer Urban Search and Rescue on April 13. This part of Angel Thunder will exercise emergency response procedures to increase proficiency, efficiency, and interoperability in dealing with catastrophic events and Defense Support to Civil Authorities.

The training on April 13 will involve several HH-60 rescue helicopters conducting operations to the Southern Arizona level-one trauma facility at University of Arizona Medical Center. These operations, expected to occur between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., simulate personnel recovery procedures that would be used during a real world emergency or disaster event. The military helicopters will use the same standard arrival and departure corridors that civilian helicopters use when transporting patients to the facility.

This year's Angel Thunder exercise will involve over 2,000 personnel from all of the military services, 40 non-military agencies and at least twelve international partners. It will include 87 aircraft, and 23 boats and will operate through April 20 across Arizona, New Mexico and California. Aircrews operating out of D-M will be required to follow D-M flight procedures during their time at the base. Expect 24-hour flight operations April 13-20.

"The exercise is designed to provide a safe and realistic training environment for personnel recovery units from the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, Marine Corps and international partners," said Brett Hartnett, Angel Thunder director.

All media representatives wishing to cover Angel Thunder events must RSVP by no later than 4 p.m. April 12. To RSVP, call (520) 228-3406 355wg.pa@dm.af.mil. Also any resident wishing to report a flight operations concern may contact (520) 228-5091.

Visit Angel Thunder on the web at http://www.dm.af.mil/library/angelthunder2013.asp.