An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : News : Article View
NEWS | July 11, 2024

New Jersey, Pennsylvania Air Guard Collaborate on Exercise

By Senior Master Sgt. Andrew Merlock, 177th Fighter Wing - New Jersey Air National Guard

ATLANTIC CITY AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, N.J. – Civil engineer Airmen from the 177th Fighter Wing, New Jersey Air National Guard, and the 171st Air Refueling Wing, Pennsylvania Air National Guard, participated in the Piney Devil Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force (Prime BEEF) exercise at the 177th Fighter Wing.

Last month’s exercise included classroom lectures and taskings to test the participants’ ability to provide the engineering support required to establish an airbase and bed down people and aircraft.

“We’re a Prime BEEF squadron. Our job is to go repair bases and fix bases. If it’s not there, we’re going to make it,” said Lt. Col. Lucas Smith, commander of the 177th Civil Engineer Squadron. “So, as a Prime BEEF team, we have to do a 96-hour training event roughly every four years. This exercise allows us to provide Prime BEEF training to the members that were excused from last year’s training in Alaska and the members that are new to our squadron.”

During the exercise, Airmen also erected a Disaster Relief Beddown System tent and traveled to the Warren Grove Range on UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters to perform land navigation and simulated combat exercises.

“They have to leave the base and do land navigation through the pinelands to find somebody, with a compass and a map,“ said Smith. “They’re going to be in an unfamiliar environment and have to deal with the weather and fatigue. They’re going to be competing against opposing forces and another team that’s trying to do the same thing, and if the teams bump into each other, we’ll see who wins.”

In addition to the practical exercises, Airmen briefed a simulated base commander on their plan for the initial set-up of an airbase. 

Col. Brian Cooper, 177th Maintenance Group commander, served as the simulated base commander and provided feedback after the briefing.

“It was an awesome, collaborative effort,” said Cooper. “These are great exercises with different Air National Guard units because it enables them to learn and work together in a great training environment to bring more realism to what we will be doing in the future with agile combat employment as a deployed combat wing.”

 

 

Related Articles
Guardsmen from Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin participate in a two-week Army National Guard Defensive Deployable Cyber Operations Systems-Modular Master Gunner Course at Jackson Barracks, a Louisiana National Guard installation in New Orleans, Oct. 28 to Nov. 7, 2024.
NGB Hosts Deployable Defensive Cyber Operations Systems-Modular Master Gunner Course
By Staff Sgt. David C. Kirtland, | Nov. 13, 2024
NEW ORLEANS – The National Guard Bureau hosted the second Deployable Defensive Cyber Operations Systems-Modular (DDS-M) Master Gunner Course at Louisiana National Guard’s Jackson Barracks Oct. 28 to Nov. 7.The course,...

U.S. Army Sgt. Isaac Bradshaw, a combat medic with C Company, 230th Brigade Support Battalion, North Carolina Army National Guard, wraps his arms around an older couple and uses his body to block them from debris and strong winds produced by the rotorwash of a landing CH-47 Chinook helicopter in Burnsville, North Carolina, Oct. 10, 2024. The Chinook crew brought generators, fuel and other supplies to the remote area after floodwaters washed away the main road after Hurricane Helene.
National Guard Helps Hurricane Milton, Helene Victims
By National Guard Bureau | Oct. 9, 2024
ARLINGTON, Va. - Over 11,000 National Guard Soldiers and Airmen were conducting Hurricane Milton and Hurricane Helene relief missions in the Southeast Sunday, helping first responders and victims by air, land and...

U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Preston Robinson, with the Joint Staff - Joint Force Headquarters, New Jersey National Guard, briefs staff during training exercise Vigilant Guard in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, Aug. 18, 2024. Vigilant Guard is a full-scale exercise to ensure effective coordination between local, state, private sector, non-governmental and federal partners.
New Jersey National Guard Tests Disaster Response Readiness
By Spc. Michael Hayes, | Aug. 19, 2024
LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. - The New Jersey National Guard launched Vigilant Guard, a disaster-preparedness exercise from Aug. 17-21 to enhance coordination between military first responders and civilian emergency services. The...