VOLK FIELD, Wis. - Nearly 50 Airmen and six A-10C Thunderbolt II aircraft assigned to the Maryland National Guard’s 175th Wing deployed to Volk Field Air National Guard Base’s Combat Readiness Training Center, Wisconsin, to conduct combat search and rescue training.
During the week-long May 7-14 exercise, the Maryland Air National Guard teamed with Airmen from the New York Air National Guard’s 101st Rescue Squadron and the Wisconsin Air National Guard’s 115th Fighter Wing. The 101st Rescue Squadron was critical to the Combat Search and Rescue task force element. Combined with the Maryland A-10s, they provided three HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopters and one MC-130 Combat Talon aircraft, while the 115th provided four F-35A Lightning II aircraft.
“The training conducted and the skills our Airmen honed over the past week cannot be understated,” said Maryland Air National Guard Brig. Gen. Richard Hunt, 175th Wing commander. “The assets that were brought together and the support provided by the Volk Field CRTC was world-class. The scenarios developed were methodically planned with our most challenging combat situations as the backdrop. This exercise is a prime example of the world-class Airman that perform this complex mission.”
Maryland Air National Guard Maj. Nick Sand, an A-10 pilot assigned to the 104th Fighter Squadron, praised the top-tier training environment at the CRTC.
“Volk Field has a phenomenal airspace, a fantastic air-to-ground gunnery range, and we get to go out and use this airspace exclusively with our combat search and rescue task force players, the helicopters, MC-130, and F-35s, go out there and train specifically and focus on this mission set for a week,” Sand said. “Counter land is kind of their emphasis training, so they are specifically set up to enable us to go out, work the airspace and then work that air-to-ground piece with the search and rescue portion of our training.”
Combat Search and Rescue, or CSAR, is one of the three primary functions of the A-10C Thunderbolt II, which also conducts close air support missions and airborne forward air control.
“Our objective this week is to go out and train searching for a simulated downed, friendly aircraft behind enemy lines,” Sand said. “We’re going to go out and locate the survivor, authenticate, locate their position, and then ensure we are able to get their location, and then pick up that survivor using helicopters and the other combat search and rescue task force elements.”
While the A-10 “attack” pilots perform the combat search and rescue tactics over the training area, the work to ensure they have mission-ready, lethal aircraft is a direct result of the work performed by the 175th Maintenance Group.
“While here at Volk Field, our maintainers directly support combat search and rescue operations by delivering safe, reliable and mission-capable A-10 aircraft,” said Maryland Air National Guard Chief Master Sgt. Frank Worsham, 175th Maintenance Group quality assurance superintendent. “Our Airmen accomplish this daily by performing rigorous visual, servicing and hands-on inspections to ensure our aircraft are ready for the mission.”
Throughout the training event, the 104th Fighter Squadron pilots flew 39 sorties while compiling 75 flight hours and completing five upgrade sorties. In total, they expended 6,000 rounds of 300mm from the GAU-8/A Avenger Gatling gun.
“I am extremely proud of the level of expertise on display this week. The professionalism of the Maryland, New York and Wisconsin Airmen this week showcased the vital role the Air National Guard brings to the joint force in future conflicts,” Hunt said. “The professionalism and dedication to this mission has been awesome to witness. The success of our team can be attributed to the individual efforts of every Airmen who participated in this training.”