KAPOLEI, Hawaii – Airmen from the 374th Airlift Wing supported the U.S. Army’s 25th Infantry Division during Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center 24-01 in Hawaii Nov. 1-10.

JPMRC is a joint service exercise involving simulated large-scale conflict against a peer adversary in jungle and archipelagic conditions. A pair of C-130J Super Hercules aircraft along with 72 Airmen from the 374th AW supported the exercise along with Airmen from the 19th AW at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas and the 621st Contingency Response Wing from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey.

The team of Airmen demonstrated interoperability with the U.S. Army while also fulfilling annual training requirements for personnel and cargo airlift.

“We’re training to not only accomplish the mission, but accomplish it well,” said Tech. Sgt. James Hurst, 36th Airlift Squadron evaluator loadmaster.

“[We are] getting after how fast we can load airplanes, how quickly we can cover these distances, how many people we can load on a C-130J, and how efficiently we can take them to where they need to go.”

The aircrew also received the benefit of training in an unfamiliar environment, encountering different types of runways than the ones they typically operate from at or near Yokota.

“We’re used to landing on big and long runways where we don’t typically have to factor in less-than-ideal circumstances,” said Capt. Tadhg Collins, 36th AS C-130J pilot. “Bradshaw, for example, is a very small airfield. It’s also at a very high elevation of over 6,000 feet. There are many different considerations and procedures to take going into a field like that.”

The aircrew also encountered challenges when adapting to the tactics, techniques, and procedures of the U.S. Army, as well as rapidly changing cargo requirements.

“We don’t have very many large Army units to work with here [at Yokota],” said Maj Zeb Kimball, JPMRC 24-01 C-130J detachment commander. “That’s something we really value out of JPMRC. It gives our guys a chance to see how the Army thinks and how they work, and it gives us a chance to demonstrate to Army leadership the capabilities that air power brings to enhance their fight.”

The 36th AS also collaborated with other aircrews, flying in joint formations with as many as 18 C-130Js from the 19th AW and C-17 Globemaster III aircraft from the 15th Wing at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.

JPMRC provided a joint training opportunity to better prepare participants to respond to any potential real-world conflict or crisis in the region.

“Both the tactical and strategic levels of JPMRC provide a lot of value, and it’s got some room for growth,” Kimball said. “I think all players involved see that.”