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Emerald Warrior 07 exercise deemed a success

  • Published
  • By Maj. Scott Covode and Denise Boyd
  • Air Force Special Operations Command Public Affairs
A week after the successful Emerald Warrior 07, Air Force Special Operations Command units are already making plans for the next exercise. 

The command's inaugural exercise provided joint and coalition forces the opportunity to train together here and on the Eglin Air Force Base test and training range. 

Special operations forces regularly complete ground training at their home bases, but bringing them here and to Eglin allowed them to hone that training and practice with airborne platforms by calling for information and assistance. 

According to EW07 Col. William Hoffman, exercise director, the exercise was a great success based on the objectives and tasks identified by the exercise participants. 

"Our coalition partners are already interested in participating again," he said. "They were happy with the training they received, and hope to expand on that joint training next time. 

There are a few hiccups that we need to address, like communications access for the coalition units, but we're confident we can correct those problems in future exercises."
Colonel Hoffman said one big reason behind the success of EW 07 was the teamwork between Hurlburt Field and Eglin units, especially with the availability of the Eglin range.
"The fact we have one of the biggest land ranges in our backyard allows us to get more bang for our buck. The test community was able to perform their requirements during the day, and then we could roll in for SOF training at night. It's great to be able to minimize training costs, and [Eglin] provides us with oftentimes hard-to-find live fire ranges right in our local area. 

"The capabilities we can put together are tremendous. We didn't fully realize the things we could do by integrating units from Eglin and Hurlburt," said Colonel Hoffman. "Once the 7th Special Forces Group moves into this area, our capabilities will expand even more." 

"There is great value in getting SOF integrated training with joint air assets that will support them during real world operations," said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Patrick Corcoran, EW 07 project lead for the Joint Fires Integration and Interoperability Team stationed at Eglin. 

It also kept AFSOC assets and crews at home; a morale booster for active aircrews. 

"The AFSOC aircrews are busy; they are regularly deployed and when they come home they still have to perform training missions to support the ground SOF's training. Having the Joint and Coalition SOF come to the Emerald Coast reduces some of the travel burden on the crews, maintenance personnel and aircraft. And it increases the training capability. At home we have more resources to fix aircraft or provide a substitute that we wouldn't have while on the road," said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Sherwood, the EW 07 chief of combat air operations. 

Live aircraft from around the Air Force provided close air support, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance, command and control and infiltration and exfiltration missions. Airlift and precision strike missions were included virtually from Charleston and Eglin Air Force bases. Combat forces on the ground could call for fire on an enemy position and support aircraft either in the sky above them or from a simulator hundreds of miles away, could respond to that request. The real and virtual effects could be seen in the Air Operations Center at Eglin. 

Equipment used by joint forces, such as Iridium phones and blue force tracker, added to the realism and allowed joint and coalition units to train like they fight. 

"Practical training with the equipment increases your situational awareness and reduces the chances of fratricide or engaging a friendly unit," said Maj. Dave Kroeger, EW 07 air operations day planning chief. 

Exercises like Emerald Warrior 07 are expected to be an annual event for AFSOC in the future. According to Colonel Hoffman, it takes about a year and a half to plan and execute an exercise of this size, so units may see another Emerald Warrior event in 2008. Joint forces from the Marine Corps, Navy and other members of the coalition have expressed interest in bringing their SOF assets out for training as well.