POPE ARMY AIRFIELD, N.C. -- – The first Battalion Mass Tactical Week of the 2025 fiscal year was hosted at Pope, Nov. 12-22 2024. BMTW 25-01 was a continuation of the mobility exercise that focuses on a joint partnership between the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army.
Although all squadrons from across Team Pope support the exercise, one of the heaviest lifts comes from Pope’s largest squadron – the 43rd Air Mobility Squadron.
“Battalion Mass Tactical Weeks are a base level exercise where we run through what an Immediate Response Force outload would look like,” said Senior Master Sgt. Andrew Silkworth, 43rd Air Mobility Squadron aerial port superintendent. “It is also a certifying event for 82nd Airborne that's simulating immediate response posture.”
Silkworth went on to explain some of the interworking’s of the Immediate Response Forces (IRF).
“An Immediate Response Force is a Joint Forcible Entry package that the Secretary of Defense has at their disposal to execute global scheme maneuvers,” he elaborated. “The 43rd AMS is the mechanism that takes it from a ready state into an airlift state. During exercises such as these, we catch the jets as they come in and provide aircraft maintenance. Additionally, the 43rd AMS provides fuel and do aerial port services from the initial joint inspection contact to final outload on to the aircraft. The key to dominating in a Great Power competition is going to be joint interoperability and our ability to move quickly and efficiently.”
Within the Air Force, officers and enlisted of varying ranks work closely together in tandem to ensure all facets of mission completion are achieved.
“For maintenance officers, if we stand up what we call Task Force Gryphon, they tend to oversee maintenance operations,” said 1st Lt. Shayna Armstrong, 43rd AMS aerial port flight commander. “They're the ones tracking which aircraft need what parts, their capabilities and communicating that. The importance of [exercises like this] as a young officer is being able to see what mistakes and feedback you can get from the sections and what capabilities each section has.”
Silkworth added that in addition to knowing the capabilities of others is important, but knowing the capabilities within Airmen’s own specific Air Force Specialty Codes is paramount to executing rapid global mobility.
“The more we practice this this event, the faster we will get when that phone rings,” Silkworth began to elaborate. “The goal is to be ready at a moment's notice to respond to Secretary of Defense’s demand. We exist here primarily to move the 82nd Airborne which is a large force package to either take over an airfield, provide security force, humanitarian or noncombatant evacuation operation assistance at any given time.”
Taking part in joint mobility exercise like BMTWs help hone the skills required in Great Power Competition environments. As the 43rd Air Mobility Operations Group at Pope and the 82nd ABN at liberty continue the symbiotic relationship fostered in events such as these, Airmen and Soldiers will keep the competitive edge on adversarial actors.
“Putting our guys or the 82nd ABN in place in a very rapid fashion prevents our enemy from countering,” Silkworth said. “[BMTWs] get both sides talking to each other. Each side has challenges throughout. The more we interact with each other, the more we can each see and provide feedback to each other. [This allows] us to get after how we can fix problems ahead of time. That way if the real-world event kicks off, we are a flawless machine.”