521st CRS Airmen battle cold in PACIFIC DAGGER

Published Feb. 19, 2025
By Master Sgt. Tristan McIntire
621st Contingency Response Wing

WESTOVER AIR RESERVE BASE, Mass --

Nearly 100 Airmen from the 521st Contingency Response Squadron practiced their airbase-opening mission during exercise PACIFIC DAGGER at Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass., Feb. 4-8, 2025.

Many historic American military operations in the Pacific were set on steaming jungle islands, but the US Indo-Pacific Command Area of Responsibility includes some cold and snowy places. PACIFIC DAGGER, an exercise designed to test skills needed in an INDOPACOM contingency scenario, included a new desired learning objective for the 521st CRS "Hydras": cold weather operations. The Westover's 439th Airlift Wing "Dogpatch" training area hosted tents, generators, a forklift, and bundled-up Airmen.

"Our mission is simple, but complex. It's to rapidly assess, open, operate, sustain, and defend expeditionary airfields and aerial ports. And the reason we're out here today is we're putting the Hydras through a pretty tough expeditionary test," said Lt. Col. Ryan Frost, commander of the squadron. "We put the whole Contingency Response Element through these cold-weather paces while dealing with difficult force protection condition change injects and chemical and biological attack injects. And our airmen did the test."

Airmen aim their weapons — Snowy PACIFIC DAGGER

Senior Airman Juan Mata, security forces specialist, right, and Airman 1st Class Jasper MacLang, aerial port specialist, left, both with the 521st Contingency Response Squadron, man a defensive fighting position during exercise PACIFIC DAGGER Feb. 7, 2025, at Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass. The 621st Contingency Response Wing designed the exercise to test the unit’s airfield-opening mission, adding cold weather as an additional challenge. (U.S. photo by Master Sgt. Tristan McIntire)

Airmen refuel a generator — Snowy PACIFIC DAGGER

Staff Sgt. Jordan Manning, left, and Senior Airman Angel Rayes, right, both Aerospace Ground Equipment technicians with the 521st Contingency Response Squadron, refuel a generator during exercise PACIFIC DAGGER Feb. 6, 2025, at Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass. The 621st Contingency Response Wing designed the exercise to test the unit’s airfield-opening mission, adding cold weather as an additional challenge. (U.S. photo by Master Sgt. Tristan McIntire) at Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass., February 6, 2025. The 621st Contingency Response Wing designed exercise PACIFIC DAGGER to test the unit’s airfield-opening mission, adding cold weather as an additional challenge. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Tristan McIntire)

Airmen provide overwatch in the snow — Snowy PACIFIC DAGGER

Staff Sgt. Justin Johns, left, and Senior Airman Tyler Reisenauer, right, both with the 521st Contingency Response Squadron, provide armed overwatch during exercise PACIFIC DAGGER Feb. 6, 2025, at Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass. The 621st Contingency Response Wing designed the exercise to test the unit’s airfield-opening mission, adding cold weather as an additional challenge. (U.S. photo by Master Sgt. Tristan McIntire) at Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass., February 6, 2025. The 621st Contingency Response Wing designed exercise PACIFIC DAGGER to test the unit’s airfield-opening mission, adding cold weather as an additional challenge. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Tristan McIntire)

Airman in CBRN gear — Snowy PACIFIC DAGGER

Senior Airman Shuncheng Li of the 521st Contingency Response Squadron completes donning chemical, biological, and radiological protective covering during exercise PACIFIC DAGGER Feb. 6, 2025, at Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass. The 621st Contingency Response Wing designed the exercise to test the unit’s airfield-opening mission, adding cold weather as an additional challenge. (U.S. photo by Master Sgt. Tristan McIntire)

Airman aims his weapon — Snowy PACIFIC DAGGER

Senior Airman Ronald Palmarin, security forces specialist with the 521st Contingency Response Squadron, provides overwatch for an entry control point during exercise PACIFIC DAGGER Feb. 7, 2025, at Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass. The 621st Contingency Response Wing designed the exercise to test the unit’s airfield-opening mission, adding cold weather as an additional challenge. (U.S. photo by Master Sgt. Tristan McIntire)

PACIFIC DAGGER was the first time the 521st CRS Senior Enlisted Leader, Chief Master Sgt. Mark Erwin, saw a Contingency Response Element in action. "The rate at which people accomplish their tasks, some of which were not inherent to their own Air Force Specialty, that's what really impressed me. We have some professionals in certain AFSC's that are knocking out some technical tasks, but they need extra hands of people pitching in. They looked for the task at hand, and everybody got after it. It was really cool to watch."

Contingency Response Airmen routinely practice responding to chemical & biological threats as well as armed opposing forces. In the wooded winterscape at Westover, the Hydras found themselves scraping freezing rain off their gas masks and knocking ice from their weapons before they could engage the enemy during a firefight.