Angel Thunder goes live at BMGR Published Dec. 16, 2008 By Teresa Walker 56th Fighter Wing Range Management Office LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. -- Angel Thunder 2008 got a late start Dec. 8 because of a rain storm, but there was plenty of activity at the Barry M. Goldwater Range and Gila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Field once the clouds cleared. About 900 personnel participated in the overall exercise, with more than 150 people training in the portion conducted at Gila Bend and on the Goldwater Range, from pararescumen to flight surgeons, patients and pilots. "Angel Thunder is the largest most complex personnel recovery, combat rescue exercise in the world," said Maj. Brett Hartnett, Angel Thunder project officer from the 563rd Operations Support Squadron, at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson. "The response to the exercise has been overwhelming and none of this would have been possible without the use of the Goldwater Range complex for live-fire training scenarios and facilities to support the full spectrum of training requirements. The Goldwater Range served as the original training location for Angel Thunder and its importance has only increased with every evolution of the exercise." The scenario on the Goldwater Range was a simulated CH-47 Chinook crash. Air Force HH-60 Pavehawks inserted to extract the patients and triage them on the way to the casualty collection point. Once off-loaded, the patients were re-triaged and transloaded from a casualty collection point into a C-130 Hercules, to receive in-flight care and on to further medical care once they arrived at the hospital. Master Sgt. Michael Arena, 48th Rescue Squadron superintendent of training plans, exercises and medical, at Davis Monthan served as an evaluator. "Our perspective is that we receive great training," he said. "It's a realistic desert type of environment that gives us realistic skills for wartime. I provide oversight of medical personnel, the quality of care the patients receive, the evacuation and the movement to the plane; from point of injury, care in-flight, during retriage and then further medical care once the patient is reloaded." Angel Thunder is an Air Combat Command exercise and the largest personnel recovery and combat search and rescue exercise to date that involves not only the Air Force, but the Army, several national agencies and international participants as well, including Germany, Chile and Colombia. Davis-Monthan is the sponsor of the annual exercise, which began in 2006. The mission of the exercise is to execute all five phases of personnel recovery: notification, assessment, mission planning, execution and re-integration. Angel Thunder lasted two weeks and took place in several training areas located in different states, including the Goldwater Range complex. The Goldwater Range hosts numerous large-scale exercises each year, including national and international participants. The extensive land and airspace safely accommodates several independent, simultaneous operations, permitting cost- and time-effective training. The range has the capacity to accommodate realistic training exercises involving complex battle scenarios with large forces of friendly and adversary aircraft, according to Rob McCreadie, 56th RMO range management specialist. "The BMGR provides an excellent opportunity to conduct combat search and rescue training combined with live fire weapons employment in a realistic combat environment," he said. "The uniqueness of the range combined with its close proximity to Gila Bend and Davis-Monthan allows combat forces to train as they intend to fight. The RMO is glad to support a venue that is not easily found anywhere else."