Airmen from the 174 th Attack Wing participated in Exercise Adirondack Warrior October 16-21 at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base, Syracuse, Fort Drum, Ogdensburg International Airport (OIA) and Griffiss International Airport. Airmen participating in the exercise packed their bags and grabbed their chemical warfare gear as if they were heading off on a deployment. At a scheduled time, they dropped off their bags to the Logistics Readiness Squadron and the bags were placed on pallets. After members dropped off their bags, they went through a line full of checking to make sure each member had all the requirements and proper training for a deployment. A deployment briefing was given, and members took a bus to simulate the flight to their location. Once they were off the bus, they were now “deployed”. Deployed airmen from the 174 th Attack Wing building set up their workstations in a new location.
Photo by Airman Tiffany Scofield/174th Attack Wing Public Affairs)
“We proved that we are executing the ACE concept by being able to launch and recover aircraft from different locations,” said Colonel Nicholas Lotito, 174 th Attack Wing Chief of Staff. “I think it was really exciting to see everyone come together and work on every challenge that we faced.”
“Our readiness is where it should be,” said Colonel William J. McCrink, 174 th Attack Wing
Commander. “This was a complicated scenario with a lot of moving parts, everybody should feel
confident after this exercise.”
Photo by Airman Tiffany Scofield/174th Attack Wing Public Affairs)
During this exercise, alarms were sounded through the base’s alarms system signaling airmen
to take action in response to chemical threats. Airmen responded to the alarms by putting on protective gear, taking cover, and searching the area for any “unexploded ordinances”. In this deployment exercise, members still performed their duties just as normal. Multi-capable airmen from the 174 th Maintenance Squadron at the Forward Operating Location (FOL) at Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield (WSAAF) on Fort Drum participated in this exercise with A-10s. The Airmen conducted Agile Combat Employment operations at WSAAF and Ogdensburg International Airport. The crew conducted operations simulating enemy air attacks making runways and support functions inoperable. The Attack Wing’s MQ-9 landed and recovered at Griffiss. Aircraft were diverted to an alternate airfield location where airmen were able to quickly provide ACE aircraft maintenance functions.
