CAMP LEMONNIER, Djibouti – The 75th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron participated in a Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA)-led emergency deployment readiness exercise, rehearsing the movement of the East Africa Response Force (EARF) out of Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, Nov. 1, 2022. This wasn’t a one-and-done venture, but a reoccurring exercise to ensure CJTF-HOA’s crisis response capability across eastern Africa.

The 75th EAS, also known as Rogue Squadron, always has a C-130H ready to go and is prepared to jump at the first call to get to work.

“The 75th is ingrained with the same reporting standard as the rest of the EARF. They’re part of the package with tactical airlift capacity,” said Capt. Graham Forman, company commander for Charlie Company, 1st Battalion 69th Infantry. “Rogue Squadron is the horse that gets us there.”

A six-hour sequence from beginning to end is the standard for every unit involved with the EARF, with the aim to spend no more than 90 minutes to get the aircraft loaded and ready for takeoff. The cargo can range from communications or medical equipment, and even personnel. Sustainment cargo like food and water is also necessary, as the response team can be out dealing with a crisis for weeks at a time.

“Once we’re hundreds of miles away, it could just be us, the aircraft and the local leaders or embassy,” Forman said. “We have to rely on key capabilities like the 75th’s airlift capacity.”

The dispersed presence on the continent makes mobility, medical support, and personnel recovery capabilities especially important to the mission in the Horn of Africa, and these requirements are expected to grow in the future.

“Joint exercises are the ideal platform for rehearsing interoperability,” said Senior Master Sgt. Joe Amato, loadmaster superintendent for the 75th EAS. “To combine operational capabilities across multiple agencies requires rigorous preparation and planning. At the same time, plans have to remain flexible until they are proven via realistic, practical rehearsals.”

The 75th EAS provides C-130 tactical airlift support to multiple users in East Africa, increasing regional access to generate the right effects, at the right place, at the right time in both contested and austere environments.

“As a tactical airlift squadron overflowing with multi-capable Airmen, the 75th EAS enthusiastically accepts the responsibility of delivering all kinds of capability to the far corners of the U.S. Africa Command,” Amato said. “We reserve a dedicated aircrew and aircraft for the EARF 24/7 so when the call comes in, we are able to fly the EARF to any objective as soon as possible.”