Exercise Gallant Tower brought together Reserve and active duty Airmen from the 908th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, 71st Rescue Squadron, the 729th Airlift Squadron, and Soldiers from the Alabama Army National Guard Det 2C/111th General Support Aviation Battalion, for a joint patient-movement and refueling event unlike anything executed before in the state.
Held between Sept. 5-7, 2025, the exercise was designed and led by the 908th AES, to push ground and flying crew to operate in conditions that mimic future contested environments, scenarios they expect to face in emerging theaters.
The primary objective of Gallant Tower was to assess and validate the operational effectiveness of ground-based Unit Type Codes in support of aeromedical evacuation missions. By enhancing these capabilities within the Theater Aeromedical Evacuation System, the squadron sought to evaluate its ability to transition seamlessly from peacetime readiness to contingency operations.
This intense focus on ground interoperability was rooted in a critical observation: while aircrew members constantly train to maintain proficiency, the opportunities for ground personnel to get high-fidelity repetitions are significantly scarcer.
"We [flight crew] will fly and train all the time. We get so many reps and really good finished products," Capt. Kristian Taylor, 908th AES flight nurse noted. "Ground just doesn't get a lot of those opportunities, so this is about them."
Gallant Tower was not merely a simulation; it was a complex logistical ballet involving assets that rarely train together in such a capacity. The exercise featured a Forward Armed and Refueling Point operation and complex patient movement scenarios involving Alabama Army National Guard HH-60M Black Hawk helicopters and an HC-130J Combat King II from Moody Air Force Base, Ga.
For the participants, this combination of forces was unprecedented.
"It was the first time that Army National Guard in Alabama conducted a [FARP] with an Air Combat Command asset," said Capt. Corey Reaves, 908th AES ground training officer in charge. "They've never done a ground [FARP] for my running C-130. That was something brand new for both parties.”
The scenario flowed like a forward-deployed medical evacuation chain. The HH-60M’s hot refueled – the process of receiving fuel with engines still running -- from the C-130J, while crew members shuttled patients from one aircraft to the other, giving both services practice under conditions that mimic the unpredictability of comb a t medical operations where speed and precision are matters of life and death.
A vital component of the exercise was the integration of the U.S. Transportation Command to validate the digital side of the patient movement chain using the TRANSCOM Regulating and Command & Control Evacuation System or TRAC2ES.
TRAC2ES manages the entire patient journey from the point of injury to air evacuation and final treatment destination, providing essential situational awareness of casualties and medical assets across the theater.
“This kind of hands-on training rarely occurs here on site,” said Reaves. “They helped the [Aeromedical Operations Team] build the mission packets and use the TRAC2ES system. It’s something we use operationally but don’t get to replicate and get reps on.”
Receiving this level of training, the unit was able to verify their ability to maintain the digital data integrity, a necessity for sustaining the global medical evacuation network alongside the physical movement of patients during real-world conflict.
The "why" behind Exercise Gallant Tower is inextricably linked to the changing nature of global conflict and aligns directly with the Air Force Reserve Command's priorities of being ‘Ready Now!’ and ‘Transforming for the Future’ giving units to look toward degraded environments involving scenarios where support is limited, communication is challenging, and teams must be self-sufficient.
To meet these future challenges, 908th AE leadership is pushing for maximum realism and stress exposure.
Taylor explained the push for more complex patient scenarios: “More max configuration, patient loads, max amount. Let's get more poly trauma impact patients…because… you don't want their first iteration to see something for the first time.”
This focus on joint, multi-platform patient movement also fits squarely into the Agile Combat Employment concept ensuring Airmen can accomplish the mission.
“When chaos happens, most people fall back to whatever their level of training is,” said Reaves. “If we can provide a higher the level of training for these real-life situations, they’ll be better prepared. We need to train outside of our comfort zone to execute at a high level.”
Pulling off an exercise of this magnitude was no small feat, particularly for a unit that does not possess its own organic aircraft for these specific missions. It required months of planning, coordination, and relationship-building.
“I think May was the very first email we sent out. It was three to four months of constant work,” Reaves said.
The AE team also coordinated with 908th Flying Training Wing Safety, the Inspector General, and Standards offices to model the structure of major readiness exercises. Taylor explained, “We made a measle and all these contingency plans to have all this in writing for it to be as legitimate to those exercises where one might look at it and say, ‘This is a certifying event’.”
The result was a training exercise that not only met but exceeded expectations, proving that with determination and vision, units can create high-value training opportunities internally without needing to deploy to a flagship training center.
"It was more successful than we thought," he concluded. "Just with as many moving parts and different parties involved, you fully expect the hang ups along the way but ended up being a productive weekend for everyone involved.”
As the 908th continues to pivot toward future readiness, Exercise Gallant Tower stands as a prime example of how unit-level innovation can drive the mission, ensuring that when the call comes, the ground forces are as ready as the aircraft they support.