PACAF Airmen join Aussies in Talisman Sabre

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ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam --  Members of the 36th Contingency Response Group from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, and the 381st Expeditionary Combat Support Squadron of the Royal Australian Air joined forces to test their combined combat capabilities during Talisman Sabre 2011 at Williamson Airfield in Williamtown, Australia.

Talisman Sabre 2011 is an exercise designed to train U.S. and Australian forces in planning and conducting combined task force operations to improve combat readiness and interoperability on a variety of missions from conventional conflict to peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance efforts.

Commanders from both units said they see Talisman Sabre 2011 as an opportunity to explore their capabilities as a combined joint task force.

"It came down to basically understanding what each other's skills are and what we can do together," said Wing Cdr. Lee de Winton, commander of the 381st Expeditionary Combat Support Squadron.

In order to learn as much as possible from each other, U.S. and Australian forces worked side-by-side to open a functional air operations center, assess air operations capabilities and sustain an operational base from the ground up.

"The thing we're looking at while we're here is how to mix and match our strengths and weaknesses," said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Ebe Toro, commander 36th CRG.

Both leaders said they see the potential benefits of learning each other's strengths and weaknesses, and strive to correct what's not working well and highlight what is effective.

"I believe my squadron will come out with a better understanding on how to run an operations room for an air base because that's not something we do," de Winton said. "My squadron has more of a long-term sustainment capability, like showers, bathrooms and food. Colonel Toro's squadron isn't used to doing that part; they may be able to learn a little from us."

For three weeks this combined effort will focus on security forces movement-to-contact training, airborne sustainment training, heavy equipment drops and retrieval of aerial assets, and the palletizing of equipment for forward deploying troops.

Both commanders expressed their gratitude for getting the chance to have their squadrons participate in Talisman Sabre 2011 and said they would love to do it again in the future.

"Our biggest goal coming out here was to see how we interoperated with the Australian Defence Forces," Colonel Toro said. "So far, everything is working great."