FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. —
Airmen from the 92nd Air Refueling Wing, 141st ARW and 6th ARW from MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, participated in the U.S. Strategic Command exercise Global Thunder 23 (GT23), April 11-18, 2023, at Fairchild AFB.
Global Thunder is an annual command and control and field training exercise designed to train Department of Defense forces and assess joint operational readiness across all the USSTRATCOM mission areas.
“Global Thunder is an opportunity for some Air Mobility Command units to showcase our global capabilities which are critical to USSTRATCOM missions,” said 2nd Lieutenant Adelaide Smallidge, GT23 maintenance project officer assigned to the 92nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron.
Fairchild participation culminated in the generation of 25 aircraft, leading to a 12-ship Minimum Interval Take-Off and multiple single-ship refueling missions.
“The KC-135’s role in this exercise is to primarily conduct air to air refueling as part of our rapid global mobility mission set,” said Major Jeffery Brenner, senior rated officer for GT23 and KC-135 instructor pilot assigned to the 92nd Air Refueling Squadron.
Global Thunder involves personnel throughout the strategic enterprise including USSTRATCOM components and subordinate units. The purpose of GT23 is to enhance readiness and ensure a safe, secure, and reliable strategic deterrence force.
Joint operational exercises like this require the efforts of many Airmen, missions, and units to ensure all aircraft are ready to launch at a moment’s notice.
“Fairchild AFB and the KC-135 tanker fleet are an invaluable asset when it comes to this specific mission set,” said Brenner. “GT23, and the total force crews from Fairchild and MacDill demonstrate that we can support USSTRATCOM and provide rapid global mobility, anywhere, anytime.”
