NEW CASTLE AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Del. -- Members of the Delaware Air and Army National Guard participated in Total Force, Joint Training Exercise Diamond Wing along with Active-Duty Air Force personnel and aircraft from Dover Air Force Base, here, Nov. 14, 2019.
The exercise provided an opportunity for the units from the First State to work together to simulate a state-wide disaster response effort. This training event included Dover AFB launching a C-5M Super Galaxy loaded with DNG assets which landed here.
Cargo, vehicles and personnel from the DNG’s 31st Civil Support Team were loaded and transported in addition to other DNG Army and Air Guard vehicles and personnel.
“This drill is significant because this exercise is a total-force exercise,” said Col. Carla D. Riner, 166 Airlift Wing commander. “It’s truly the entire state and our capabilities coming together through this exercise. That makes it very, very special to have different sets of capabilities through the Air Force and the Army all work together for a total force.”
During the exercise, members from the 166th AW Inspector General unit also conducted evaluations to document successes and improvements make it a true learning experience for future training events and real-world missions.
The National Guard is prepared with highly-trained professionals and state-of the-art equipment to respond and support incident commanders in any disaster scenario, and training like Diamond Wing allows the Delaware Guard to showcase the capabilities of Citizen Guardsmen.
“During this particular mission set, we had transportation elements that would support movement of equipment and commodities to people in need and points of distribution that could be established,” said Lt. Col. Garland Pennington, Delaware National Guard Joint Operations Center director. “We train and exercise so when we do get the call for a real world incident we're prepared, we know each other and what we need to do to meet the mission in support of our citizens.”