The 908th Flying Training Wing has been transitioning from a C-130-equipped tactical airlift unit to becoming the formal training unit for the MH-139A Grey Wolf for nearly four years now. After divesting the last of its C-130s in April 2022, and receiving its first Grey Wolf in April 2024, the wing has taken another first in the life of the U. S. Air Force's newest aircraft: participation in a training exercise.
The 908th Operations Support Squadron held a Ready Airman Training exercise, Sept. 7, at Maxwell Air Force Base.
The exercise was a culmination event for the squadron, after having spent the previous five duty days, spread out since July 2024, covering items such as base defense, tactical combat casualty care, weapons handling, small arms tactics, survival, evasion, resistance and escape tactics and other agile combat employment priorities, giving leadership a chance to test and evaluate multi-capable Airman skills.
"Most of the planning was accomplished by Tech. Sgt. Jesse Liethen, as he developed the ground exercise," explained, Lt. Col. Justin McCullough, 703rd Helicopter Squadron director of operations, who also happened to be the copilot for the flight. "From there, the aircrew planning was relatively simple as it ended up being an exercise in basic maneuvers for us. We are in the infancy stages of our flight training, but it was exciting to provide the ground members who were in the exercise a sense of realism to their scenario."
A little past the halfway point of the hour-long exercise, an MH-139A was spotted flying in the local pattern overhead. Then it began circling the training compound.
Those participating in the exercise on the ground then simulated calling for a show of force fly-by, an air support concept that demonstrates air superiority.
After that, the aircraft performed a landing in an unimproved location, a grass field outside of the training compound, and simulated having a security forces team exit the aircraft and proceed to help reinforce the compound, then exfiltrate the area.
"This was a valuable experience as aircrew to participate with ground parties before being added to our mission qualifications in the coming months," said Lt. Col. Kyle Wamser, 908th Operations Group Standardization and Evaluation chief, who was the aircraft commander during the flight. "It supports our crawl, walk then run approach to the new aircraft and was even better that a lot of people beyond the crew flying were able to complete valuable training."
While this level of participation was very rudimentary, this was indeed only the beginning of the Grey Wolf being involved in 908th training exercises.
"For this exercise, we did not fly any members or do anything outside of our basic proficiency level," McCullough explained. "But, in the future we will be able to provide airlift support, static line, and potentially medical evacuation scenarios."
The crew know that while their role in this exercise was small, it takes an entire wing to make something like this possible.
"The wing plays a role in every flight we make," McCullough said. "The 908th Maintenance Group ensures the aircraft are ready and inspected to the highest standards, members from aircrew flight equipment make sure we are equipped, and even the support functions of the 908th Mission Support Group play a role in getting our members here to the unit training assembly. Multiple Airmen throughout the wing make every sortie possible. It is nice to fly on the UTA weekends so that more members of the wing can get a chance to see what they are a part of and the aircraft in action."
The flight was historic in another way as well. This was the first MH-139A flight the entire crew was made up of Air Force Reserve Command members, with Wamser and McCullough as the aircraft commander and copilot, respectfully, and Master Sgt. Kyle Nagamatsu as the special mission aviator, marking the first time a 908th Grey Wolf has been flown without any of the unit's active-duty counterparts from Detachment 3 of the 58th Operations Group.
"It is certainly exciting to see the program as a whole move forward and hit key historic milestones like this," McCullough said. "The 908th OSS provided a great training scenario, and we were really just a small piece of the puzzle."
