MILITARY

On the road: AFSOC helps land aircraft on highway, making history

Capt. Alejandra Fontalvo/Special to the Northwest Florida Daily News/USA TODAY NETWORK

A U.S. Air Force 127th Wing A-10 Thunderbolt II, with ground air traffic control and guidance provided by Special Tactics operators from the 24th Special Operations Wing, lands on a closed public highway Thursday near Alpena, Michigan as part of a training exercise. The joint exercise tested part of the agile employment concept, focusing on projecting combat power from austere locations.

Air Force Special Operations Command personnel from Hurlburt Field and Duke Field were among the Air Force personnel who made a bit of military history Thursday.

The airmen and their equipment were part of a training event that included what the Air Force is calling "the first ever intentional landing of modern aircraft on a U.S. highway." The training was conducted on Michigan 32, a 100-mile state route near Alpena, Michigan, in conjunction with units from the Michigan Air National Guard and the Air Force's Air Combat Command.

The training was part of Northern Strike 21-2, one of the Department of Defense's largest reserve component readiness exercises. In all, Northern Strike 21-2 included some 5,100 participants from various states and countries.

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Special Tactics airmen from the Hurlburt Field-headquartered 24th Special Operations Wing, other airmen from Hurlburt's 492nd Special Operations Wing, and Air Force Reserve airmen from the Duke Field-based 919th Special Operations Wing were part of the history-making highway landings, which included C-146A Wolfhound aircraft assigned to the 492nd SOW and 919th SOW.

“Today’s training is directly applicable to what we would do during a deployed scenario in either combat or peacetime operations,” Air Force Lt. Col. Jeff Falcone, the Special Tactics leader for the exercise, said Thursday. “We’re working on agile combat employment concepts, which basically makes the force more flexible, more maneuverable and creates challenges for our adversaries in different environments."

Falcone added that agile combat employment "increases the survivability of U.S. forces as we’re able to move around to more unpredictable locations to resupply, refuel or anything else we may need.”

During Thursday's training, a team of Special Tactics airmen infiltrated, secured and controlled the airfield — in this case, the closed public highway. Special Tactics airmen are a special operations ground force, experienced in conducting global access missions such as establishing austere landing zones around the world.

“The training event would not be possible without our Special Tactics airmen,” said Falcone. “Our Special Tactics are the critical team providing air-ground communications including air traffic control, making sure the air assault zone is suitable for aircraft. We also have medical personnel embedded in our Special Tactics team, which provides an additional capability not only for protection of our team, but also for the other forces and anyone else in the area.”

Once the airfield was ready, the Special Tactics airmen on the ground called in the first A-10 Thunderbolt II assigned to the 127th Wing, Michigan Air National Guard. The A-10 is a close air support jet aircraft that uses its firepower to assist ground troops and to attack enemy armored vehicles and tanks.

An Air Force 492nd Special Operations Wing C-146A Wolfhound, with ground air traffic control and guidance provided by Special Tactics operators from the 24th Special Operations Wing, lands on a closed public highway Thursday near Alpena, Michigan. The first-ever intentional landing of military aircraft on a highway was part of the Northern Strike 21-2 exercise.

The A-10 was followed onto the highway airfield by a C-146A Wolfhound, a propeller-driven tactical transport aircraft.

“The main mission of the C-146 is rapid responsive air mobility,” said the lead C-146 pilot for the exercise, an aircraft commander assigned to the 492nd SOW. "Without our ability to infiltrate we wouldn’t be able to operate the A-10s from that austere location.”

In all, Thursday's exercise saw four wings successfully land and launch six aircraft — four A-10s and two C-146s — demonstrating the various units' ability to operate with one another as well as AFSOC's role in enabling other forces to do their work.

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“We really would not be doing any of this without AFSOC support,” Lt. Col. Brian Wyrzykowski, the mission commander assigned to the 127th Wing of the Michigan Air National Guard. “This has been done overseas on roads that were made for aircraft, but this road was not made for aircraft. This really represents a new capability for the Department of Defense being able to operate off of a true highway.”

The historic event served as a "proof of concept," demonstrating that AFSOC, the Air Force and allies are not constrained to traditional runways.

“Today’s exercise not only helps the United States but also our allies and partners around the world,” said Falcone.

Northwest Florida Daily News military reporter Jim Thompson contributed to this report.