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Service members wake up with Operation Morning Coffee

  • Published
  • By Lance Cpl. Stanley Moy
  • Marine Aircraft Group - 49 Public Affairs
WARREN GROVE GUNNERY RANGE, N.J. --  With the sun rolling high through the sapphire sky, all seems quiet. Then you hear a quick roar: "brrrrrt."

The target is destroyed.

The A-10 Thunderbolt that just passed overhead is participating in Operation Morning Coffee, a joint, multi-unit, multi-state exercise that took place here June 17-19, 2015.

"Operation Morning Coffee was an opportunity to demonstrate the joint service cooperation and assignments between all of the U.S. Armed Forces," said Marine Staff Sgt. Alexander Olivo. "Further understanding of each other's roles will better, not only the Armed Forces, but the individuals involved as well."

More than 100 personnel participated in the exercise, including members of the Marine Wing Support Squadron-472 out of Westover Air Reserve Base; Maryland Air National Guard's 175th Fighter Wing; New Jersey National Guard's 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team and 104th Brigade Engineer Battalion; and 227th Air Support Operations Squadron out of Atlantic City, New Jersey.

MWSS-472 completed updates to the UAV landing strip and helicopter pad at Warren Grove Gunnery Range June 18. The exercise capitalized on the improvements and urban terrain at the range.

During part of the exercise, participants tracked down suspected terrorists and infantry through the range's urban terrain and the infantry units were "ambushed" during negotiation training for human intelligence collectors.

When the convoy was trapped in a simulated ambush again after locating a hidden weapons cache, the units joined forces - the tactical air control party members calling in the A-10s to clear the area.

Throughout this simulated combat environment, units had to de-conflict air space between the A-10s and UAVs - a unique problem the units overcame by working together.

"Working together reduces the amount of difficulty and allows other units to be aware of such contingencies when working with a UAV," said Spc. Thomas Kerr, 104th Brigade Engineer Battalion UAV aircraft systems repair.y