Readiness exercise paves way for Operation Tomodachi success

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. J.G. Buzanowski
  • 374th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan --  For six days in early March, Team Yokota focused on an operational readiness exercise, working long hours every day to prove the base's war-fighting plan was sound.

The 374th Airlift Wing surged demands across the base, ensuring that individuals would be ready to support contingency operations if they ever got the call. Finally, after successfully completing hundreds of exercise tasks, the wing commander called an end to the ORE around noon March 11. Many had gone home, relaxing after the hectic schedule that week.

A mere three hours later, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of northern Japan, triggering a tsunami that flooded several parts of the country.

Team Yokota got that call to be ready; things were about to get real.

The wing immediately transitioned from practicing its wartime plans to executing a real-world humanitarian mission, dubbed Operation Tomodachi ("Tomodachi" means "friends" in Japanese). American forces partnered with those of several other nations to help deliver relief supplies at the request of the government of Japan.

"Coming off the wing's operational readiness exercise absolutely postured us for success early with Operation Tomodachi," said Lt. Col. Karl Kent, chief of wing plans and exercises. "The base was already in the right mindset and battle rhythm to make the mission happen."

Several units on base immediately applied lessons learned during the ORE to their role in Operation Tomodachi. Because they'd spent the previous week testing procedures, Team Yokota was better able to support their new mission.

In Phase I of the ORE, Yokota Airmen practiced receiving an influx of people and cargo. Volunteers from around the base created a more realistic processing line for the exercise. The experience paid dividends when 11 airliners diverted to the base because they couldn't land at Narita Airport 80 miles away.

After refueling each aircraft, two plane loads of people - about 600 in all - asked to stay the night. Yokota Airmen took responsibility for their care and feeding and the planes completed the journey to Narita the next day.

"During the exercise, we used the Taiyo Community Center and specifically practiced how we'd bed down and feed a large number of people," said Chief Master Sgt. James Russell, the 374th Force Support Squadron superintendent. "When we knew how many people would be staying from the diverted planes, we put into play our plan: 'X number of people means we use X facility and need X number amount of meals.' Our whole team came together to take care of the people who stayed here. It's because we had a plan ready to go that we were able to make it happen."

In addition, as more people arrived to augment Operation Tomodachi, transportation demands increased as well.

Vehicle operations crews were already running extra shuttles to support the ORE, but with more than 1,200 additional people needing to get around base, they extended their hours further and even added more bus routes, said Master Sgt. Bonnie Griffin, vehicle operations NCO in charge.

For them, the exercise also benefited their cargo transportation process. With their main building under construction, Airmen operated from four different locations, complicating the lines of communication.

"At first, we were getting tasks from different sources, so we'd waste time figuring out if three requests were really just one mission," Sergeant Griffin said. "Fortunately, we had all the kinks worked out by the time Operation Tomodachi began. Thanks to the ORE, we were a lot more efficient in delivering humanitarian supplies."

Maj. Phillip Bartoo, the chief of installation exercises and inspections, said it's important to write after-action reports to capture what was learned during Operation Tomodachi.

"That will ensure we have effective, tested plans in place because we have to be ready for the next event, regardless of what kind of contingency it is," the major said. "If we can get these lessons written down now while they're fresh, we'll be setting ourselves up for success in the future."