Exercise Emerald Warrior 17: preparation, efficiency, teamwork

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Luke Hill
  • 2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs
BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. --  Barksdale Airmen, U.S. special operations Airmen and soldiers, and partner-nation military members finished the 10th iteration of Exercise Emerald Warrior on March 10.

Emerald Warrior, an annual, multination exercise, presented an opportunity for B-52 Stratofortress Air crews to work closely with ground and air forces in irregular warfare situations, specifically to provide close air support and precision bombing.

“Emerald Warrior provides a unique opportunity for B-52 aircrews to integrate into unorthodox warfare situations,” said Maj. Jason Woodley, 2nd Operations Support Squadron wing intelligence chief. “This type of warfare is mostly what we see today in Syria and Iraq, so practicing these situations means we are ready and can perform our job smoothly with joint special operations forces and forces from other nations.”

The exercise focused on providing special operations ground teams an opportunity to try out new tactics, sharpen their skills and increase teamwork before conducting real world operations.

“It allows us to practice like we currently fight,” said Woodley. “It enables folks who have been to places like Syria and Iraq to apply lessons learned and refine their tactics. At the same time, for folks who haven’t been to places like that, it allows them a training environment to practice what they will eventually employ down range. This empowers both the folks on the ground and the aircrews to be more effective while conducting operations. Ultimately this means higher efficiency, and minimizing losses on our side while maximizing damage done to the enemy.”

In a situation where people from different units, branches and nations must work together to complete the mission, the emphasis of teamwork cannot be understated and Emerald Warrior 17 was no exception.

“The overarching lesson from this exercise is the importance of teamwork,” said Woodley. “Many ground forces will work with B-52s down range and for a lot of the younger guys, it was a rare opportunity to practice operations with a B-52 before actually deploying down range.”

Abraham Lincoln once said, “If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I would spend six of those hours sharpening my axe.” The quote captures the spirit of Emerald Warrior. Through this exercise, U.S. and foreign forces are sharp and ready to deal lethal damage to the enemy.