ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla.-- Members of the 97th Operations Group and 97th Mission Support Group teamed up with Soldiers from Fort Sill, Oklahoma, to complete a joint training exercise, May 25-26, 2022.
Two C-17 Globemaster III aircrews airlited cargo from Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma to Fort Sill, including two M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems. Upon arrival, the HIMARS fired six rockets.
“The Army’s role in this exercise was to prepare us for possible aerial operations with the Air Force,” said Capt. Austin Cibik, 2-4 Field Artillery Regiment assistant operations officer. “It gives us a chance to experience loading Multiple Launch Rocket Systems onto aircraft, downloading them and conducting air-land raid operations.”
1st Lt. Lauren Rogers, 97th Logistics Readiness Squadron flight commander, said the HIMARS provided a unique learning opportunity for her team, because it is a piece of equipment that the 97th LRS rarely gets to load.
“The majority of my flight and the Logistic Readiness Squadron as a whole are first term Airmen,” she said. “We encourage them to learn their job here with these specific opportunities where they get to learn what they might do at an aerial port squadron.”
The Soldiers also trained on loading, downloading, and firing the HIMARS loading immediately after the aircraft landed.
“This exercise was a way to test our capabilities, along with strengthening our partnership with the Air Force,” said Sgt. 1st Class Colby Robertson, 2-4 Field Artillery Regiment battalion master. “It’s also a really good way to build morale for the unit because soldiers who don’t end up in a high-margin unit may not get to experience an opportunity like this.”
Rogers said the exercise provided an opportunity for the Soldiers and Airmen involved to gain more experience and working knowledge of using the HIMARS in a deployed environment.
“I think we have a great working relationship,” Rogers said. “It was very easy to talk with them and get the communications and information that we needed. Being here today, we learned a lot about how field artillery works and logistics works.”