O Canada: 22nd Air Force Reservists Bring Airlift Support to Cold Lake

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt Joe Simms
  • 22nd Air Force Public Affairs
COLD LAKE AIR BASE ALBRERTA, Canada --  Reservists from throughout 22nd Air Force participated in Maple Flag Exercise 42, held at Cold Lake Air Base Alberta, Canada, from May 29 - June 14. 

Since 1978, Cold Lake AB has hosted this international air combat exercise which included squadrons from Germany, Singapore, the United Kingdom and United States. 

While the rows of jets lining the ramp of this Canadian air base got all the attention, tucked away at the end of Runway 22 was a group of 16 men and women that routinely went overlooked. That is because they are excellent at their job. 

Reservists from the 512th Airlift Control Flight, Dover Air Force Base, Del., along with members from the 439th ALCF from Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass., the 94th Airlift Wing from Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga., and the 46th Aerial Port Squadron, also from Dover, combined to form the 512th Contingency Response Element for this exercise. 

The mission of CREs (formerly known as ALCE or TALCE) is to "set up air mobility operations centers where we're needed throughout the world," said Capt. Cliff Cunningham, 512th CRE commander." We are a small group of highly trained individuals that take care of operations and logistics all in one package." 

While at Cold Lake, the 512th CRE assisted the Canadian Air Force in providing air mobility operational support for all transient cargo and air refueling aircraft arriving at the base, while completing training and certification of their new members in a deployed environment. 

From the moment these Reservists arrived in country they hit the ground running with the members of the 512th CRE setting up communications to provide command and control for transient aircraft while the aerial porters off-loaded three C-130s and three KC-10s. 

"There is a synergistic effect when you come out and see how folks operate differently and still get the mission done," said Capt. Cunningham about working with the Canadian Air Force. "We will try and integrate the good ideas and experiences while we're here to make us a more effective unit." 

At home station, an ALCF consists of rated and non-rated officers, airfield managers, command and control specialists, personnelists, loadmasters and air refueling specialists, along with various communications and power production specialties. When deployed, other agencies such as intelligence, weather, aircraft maintenance, aerial port, security forces, and contracting may provide contingency support elements to the CRE package depending upon the specific mission. 

In addition to supporting airfield operations, the 512th CRE completed an airfield survey with the help of the Canadian Air Force. The survey gathered information about the airfield including runway and taxi way dimensions and local frequencies to be updated in the AMC database for future operations at Cold Lake AB. 

"What surprised me about the ALCF was how much you have to know about the different career fields," said Tech. Sgt. Julitssa Ortiz, Operations NCO with the 512th ALCF. "I had no idea I had to be proficient in load planning, communications, or that I would be out there slinging chains." 

Each member of the ALCF must know what systems are required for the mission and be proficient in setting them up. At Cold Lake, the 512th did not deploy with a communications representative so it fell to Staff Sgt. Jonathan Concepcion, Operations NCO from Dover AFB, to program the Harris Multiband Radio, which can be programmed with up to 10 frequencies and scan all ten at once. 

With connectivity to the tower, ground operators and incoming aircraft the operations officer can have a clear picture of what is happening around the airfield and where to allocate resources. 

For Sergeant Concepcion, a prior command post controller, it was the ability to be in the middle of the action that lured him to the ALCF. 

"In the command post you don't necessarily see your work. Here we deploy, we talk to these people, they come in, we know who they are and they know who we are," he said." If they need something they come to us, it's much different. Instead of being in the states talking to people like us trying to get information; we are that information and I think that is cool." 

A CRE's tasking can come from Air Force Reserve Command or Air Mobility Command and be for military or humanitarian missions. In the event of a natural disaster, the ALCFs are tasked with deploying first responders out of their home stations to locations around the world. 

Once they receive their tasking, ALCFs must be able to deploy within 36 hours and provide air and logistical coordination for all incoming and outgoing aircraft, where ever their destination may be. 

Deployments within a CRE can last two weeks at a time or one to two months if deploying to a bare base environment. Typical expectations of an ALCF member can be 60-90 days of active duty on top of the member's regular UTA and annual tour. 

"Everyone who is in an ALCF is here as volunteers and when people volunteer for this job they know the bar is set very high as far as mobility goes," said Capt. Cunningham." Volunteerism is the key to our organization's success. Without it, quite simply, our whole organization wouldn't function. 

Joining an ALCF is different than becoming a loadmaster or command post controller. Instead of going through a process that begins with a recruiter, ALCF commanders hold a board and conduct face-to-face interviews with each applicant. 

"ALCF's have a rigorous interview process, we only hire the best, and it shows when we get out there and complete the mission," said Sgt. Ortiz who has been with the 512th ALCF for one year.

The best way to find out what opportunities are available in ALCFs around the Reserve is to personally contact a unit and inquire about vacancies. There are three ALCFs in 22nd Air Force located at Dover AFB, Del., Westover ARB, Mass. and Charleston AFB, S.C.