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Contingency Response Group assumes alert rotation for global mission

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Parker Gyokeres
  • 621st Contingency Response Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  Airmen from the 621st Contingency Response Wing here assumed responsibility for a four-month rotation of Joint Task Force - Port Opening alert beginning Feb 1.

Approximately 115 Airmen assigned to the CRW's 817th Contingency Response Group will join 55 Soldiers from the U.S. Army's 688th Rapid Port Opening Element based at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va. Together, they will provide initial airbase opening and cargo distribution capability for contingency operations worldwide. The four-month duty is part of a constant JTF - PO rotation with its sister unit on the West coast, the 615th CRW based at Travis Air Force Base, Calif.

Beginning this alert cycle, the 817th CRG will provide a new capability to the JTF-PO toolbox--the ability to survey, open, and operate an unimproved landing zone. This is a critical capability throughout the range of conflict, especially given the austere nature of opening an airfield where none previously existed, explains Col. David Kuenzli, 817th CRG and designated joint task force commander.

"Preparation for alert is truly a joint endeavor," said Kuenzli. "It began in late summer as we teamed with the RPOE to successfully complete our US Transportation Command JTF-PO verification at the Joint Operations Access Exercise at Fort Bragg, N.C.

"That event verified the air and surface components could employ as an effective joint team," he added. "Then, two months out we built upon our verification event's success through equipment preparation, local and joint training, and weekly planning meetings with our RPOE joint partners."

The goal, explains the commander, was for the Airmen's mission readiness to peak on the day they assumed alert status. Every assigned mobility Airman is required to achieve and maintain worldwide deployment availability for the entire four-month alert window.

"Our deployment managers and training office combed through the deployment battle roster and filled every slot with a fully-trained and deployable Devil Raider disciplined to solve problems in complex environments," he continued. "In addition to individual readiness, those same Airmen have also been busy inspecting and preparing every piece of equipment they will use to accomplish their mission."

Once inspected, the tools, tents, vehicles and support systems tailored to sustain an air mobility force are sealed by air transportation specialists. They sit ready, already weighed with shipping paperwork completed, for immediate departure to an unknown destination. Weekly inspections ensure equipment is deployable until the wing transfers alert responsibilities to a CRG on the West coast.

The 621st CRW previously deployed a JTF-PO alert team in support of the international humanitarian assistance mission to Haiti in 2010. But Kuenzli cautions his Airmen not to use the wing's history to shape future expectations.

"The bottom line is we don't know where the next call is coming from," he continued. "It could be a natural disaster, or a wartime tasking; we have to be prepared to do it all. On the first of February when we assumed alert duties, we were certainly ready for the phone to ring."