Spooky Crews, Marines Train Together:

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org

Airmen and marines recently worked on virtual joint convoy training, using the Marine Corps Virtual Battle Space II and Air Force Special Operations Command’s AC-130U simulator. The three-day training event engaged 23 Spooky crewmembers at Hurlburt Field, Fla., and 20 marines who were at pre-deployment training at Twentynine Palms, Calif., reports Capt. Joseph Coslett. It was a first-time hookup for the AC-130U gunship simulator and a convoy trainer, and the realism extended to marines “yelling” under fire over a simulated tactical radio network to coordinate with the convoy commander and the Spooky for close air support. “The value added of this training cannot be overstated; we’re saving hundreds of thousands of dollars, and we don’t have any restrictions on the intensity or realisms of executing combat scenarios that are inevitable with live range training,” declared Ken Taylor, AFSOC’s training technical manager/planner.

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org