Special operations troops from the US Air Force (USAF) late last month practised forcibly taking control of an airfield in the Caribbean, amid heightened regional tension and a build up of American forces in the area.
The five-day exercise involved six USAF commandos parachuting from a Lockheed Martin C-130J into the Caribbean Sea three miles off the coast of St Croix in the US Virgin Islands territory. They came ashore in an inflatable boat.
Another 11 personnel parachuted directly onto St Croix’s Henry E Rohlsen airport from the same C-130J, setting up a pincer movement to seize the airport.
The commando teams included pararescuemen and combat controllers, who are responsible for rescuing downed air crews and providing air traffic control in combat, respectively.
The troops cleared the runways, established perimeter security and implemented air traffic control “within minutes”, the Pentagon says, allowing the C-130J to land and offload other assets.
“Our airmen exercised their unique skill sets to parachute into contested territory, establish airfield operations, control aircraft, respond to search and rescue scenarios, manage notional medical evacuations and conduct reconnaissance and targeting operations on a very tight timeline,” says the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) officer who planned the drills.
The individual’s identity and rank were withheld by the Pentagon for security reasons.
“Operations in the Caribbean simulate many of the geographical features our forces may encounter when deployed around the globe,” he added on 5 September.
Several other AFSOC training missions also took place in other parts of the US Virgin Islands.
The exercises, dubbed “Emerald Warrior 25.2”, concluded on 30 August and were seemingly unrelated to the ongoing build-up of US forces in Caribbean.
AFSOC first announced the drills in July, well before the recent tensions in the region.
Washington has surged naval and marine forces into the southern Caribbean, including a US Navy “amphibious ready group” carrying Boeing AV-8B Harrier fighter jets and several thousand combat troops from the US Marine Corps.
A contingent of Lockheed F-35 stealth fighters is also being deployed to Puerto Rico, another US Caribbean territory.
The White House says the show of force is meant to deter drug smuggling into the USA.
See more photos from Emerald Warrior 25.2:
