BLACK TIGER--GERONIMO STRIKE

PHOTO CAPTIONS:

1. Royal Thai and U.S. Army paratroopers drop into Thailand after a 16-hour non-stop flight from Alaska to test a Crisis Reaction Force in combined exercise Operation BLACK TIGER - GERONIMO STRIKE.

2. About 450 Thai and U.S. paratroopers prepare to jump from five U.S. Air Force C-141s over Lop Buri, Thailand to evacuate simulated endangered American citizens from a fictitious country.

3. U.S. troops of the lst Battalion (Airborne) of the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment prepare to move from the landing zone after landing.

4. One of the 42 paratroopers from the Thai 31st Infantry Regiment prepares to jump.

5. U.S. troops went from 60° to 95° (16°-35°C) in 16 hours. Medic treats a heat casualty.

6. The Alaska-based paratroopers coordinate the evacuation of the endangered American citizens.

7. Col. Mark Still, Commander of the USAF 62nd Operations Group which flew exercise support, poses with Col. Charoenporn Noppadol, Commander of the Royal Thai Army's 31st Infantry Regiment.

1 Photo: Rolando Gomez

When hundreds of paratroopers dropped from the sky over Lop Buri, Thailand in August 1998, few villagers below knew that this force had just flown 6,500 miles (10,465 km) nonstop to reach this objective. This was a battalion-size force which had flown all the way from Alaska to test a U.S. Army, Pacific (USARPAC) Crisis Response Force. This was a USARPAC initiative to meet U.S. Commander in Chief, Pacific (USCINCPAC) requirements for rapid response forces.

2 Photo: 1st Lt. Lars Anderson, USAF

Seven U.S. Air Force C-141 Starlifters each flew 16-plus hour missions to carry 408 U.S. Army paratroopers and 42 Royal Thai Army paratroopers, and their equipment, from Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska on a mission simulating the evacuation of endangered American citizens from a fictitious country. The U.S. troops were members of the 1^st Battalion (Airborne) of the 501^st Parachute Infantry Regiment. The Thai troops were from the Royal Thai Army's 31^st Infantry Regiment.

3 Photo: Sgt. Javier Matos, USA

Called Operation BLACK TIGER - GERONIMO STRIKE, the Thai-U.S. mass tactical jump demonstrated that the U.S. Pacific Command had the ability to deploy forces to reach a crisis situation in the Asia-Pacific region in less than 24 hours. ("Geronimo" is the name of a legendary American Indian warrior, and has been the battle cry of the 501^st since the unit parachuted into Normandy, France during the D-Day invasion in WWII.)

By deploying two U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotankers to provide the two in-flight, nighttime aerial refuelings for the C-141s, the Crisis Response Force was able to deploy nonstop, without needing foreign airfields in the Pacific. The long flight and big change in climate from colder Alaska to the high temperatures and humidity of Thailand did not stop the troops from successfully reaching and securing their drop zone, a large area of rice paddy and farm land. The battalion task force jumped with all the weaponry needed to operate, including M-240 machine guns and M-249 Squad Automatic Weapons. Five of the C-141s dropped the paratroopers, while the other two dropped pallets of supplies.

4 Photo: 1st Lt. Lars Anderson, USAF

Upon landing, one U.S. company linked up with a platoon of Thai soldiers who had initially secured the simulated American citizens, while the other two companies swept the drop zone for any hostile threats. Within 30 minutes, the paratroopers accomplished their noncombatant evacuation operation and were ready to re-deploy.

The 1st Battalion (Airborne) of the 501^st Parachute Infantry Regiment is one of three infantry battalions organic to the U.S. 172^nd Infantry Brigade (Separate) based in Alaska. These battalions rotate the ready-to-deploy mission responsibility every three months. The separate brigade is completely self-sufficient, including its own airborne task force.

5 Photo: Capt. Steven Stover, USA

It has its own 105mm Howitzers and AT-4, Dragon and TOW anti-tank weapons. It can be augmented with UH-60 Black Hawk and CH-47 Chinook helicopters. It also has its own cavalry troop, signal company, engineer company, and military intelligence company. All of these capabilities are available to augment a battalion task force, if needed. The Commanding General, U.S Army, Pacific can mobilize another combat force if larger operations or sustained combat operations are involved -- the Division Ready Brigade of the U.S. 25^th Infantry Division (Light) based in Hawaii.

6 Photo: Sgt. Javier Matos, USA

In the past, orders for short-notice contingency missions almost certainly would have been routed to one of two Marine Corps Expeditionary Forces or an on-call brigade of the 25^th Infantry Division (Light). While these options remain, the Crisis Response Force offers USCINCPAC another highly deployable and strategically located force for crisis response in the Pacific Theater.

At a time when American citizens are under threat from a number of terrorist organizations and certain sympathetic regimes, the ability of U.S. Forces to rapidly deploy a Crisis Response Force to secure, protect and evacuate threatened U.S. citizens is an important mission. Additionally, the Crisis Response Force may be tailored to undertake purely non-combat missions, such as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations to aid any country in the Asia-Pacific region.

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For the Thais participating, Operation BLACK TIGER - GERONIMO STRIKE was a unique experience. Col. Charoenporn Noppadol, Commander of the Thai 31^st Infantry Regiment, said this mission was historical for the Royal Thai Army -- the first time Thai troops deployed to the United States to return to Thailand in a mass jump with U.S. paratroopers. He said, "To fly to Thailand with U.S. troops and parachute with them is a great opportunity." For U.S. Army, Pacific and the U.S. Pacific Command, the test of the Crisis Response Force successfully demonstrated rapid reach and responsiveness to any crisis situation, no matter how distant.