In today's military, aircrews have to be trained and ready to handle any type of combat scenario, and recently, members of McChord Field and other bases participated in an exercise titled "Rainier War" to help them hone their skills.

Aircrews from Joint Base Lewis-McChord; Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii; Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska; and Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina, departed from McChord Field, Dec. 10, to participate in a Joint Forcible Entry exercise over Moses Lake, Washington.

Rainier War is a semi-annual Large Formation Exercise, hosted by the 62nd Airlift Wing, designed to train aircrew under realistic scenarios that support full spectrum operations against modern threats and replicate today's contingency operations.

A heavy container delivery system cargo drops out the back of a C-17 Globemaster III during the Rainier War, Dec. 10, over the Rainier drop zone. The aircrew dropped multiple loads of cargo onto the DZ in support of the Large Formation Exercise, known as Rainier War. Photo credit: Senior Airman Divine Cox
_________________________________________________________________________________________

"We launched eleven C-17 Globemaster IIIs to train and hone our combat and humanitarian mobility delivery skills," said Col. Leonard Kosinski, 62nd Airlift Wing commander.

Once the aircraft launched and were in the air, aircrews began preparing their aircraft for its large formation airdrops.

Before the formation performed the heavy container delivery system airdrops, the aircrews performed low-level flying prior to arriving at the drop zone in Moses Lake.

"I enjoy watching the success of our hard work," said Staff Sgt. Joseph Timpson, 10th Airlift Squadron loadmaster. "Practice makes perfect, and when you train all the time, specifically on airdrop missions, you expect everything to be perfect."

The Rainier War exercise included the large formation airdrops and a larger formation of C-17s before heading back to Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

"This was a very challenging exercise and lots of important learning took place," said Kosinski. "It was incredibly realistic and challenging training needed to ensure we are ready whenever and wherever our Nation calls."