Dover reservists exercise combat capabilities during March Madness 2025 Published March 13, 2025 By Jeremy Larlee 512th Airlift Wing Public Affairs DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- Citizen Airmen from the 512th Airlift Wing sharpened their combat capabilities during the March Madness 2025 exercise Feb. 27- March 2 at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. The readiness exercise is a biennial requirement, and this one was planned on an accelerated timeline, said Master Sgt. Elrico Edwards, 512th AW Inspector General exercise planner. “We had to plan this in six months instead of the year we usually have,” he said. “To do this in half the time and have the results we had, really exceeded most of our expectations.” Once players processed through a personnel deployment function line, the majority were assigned to two different operating areas on base. The first area was near and around the flightline. The second area was at the Tactics and Leadership Nexus training area where the mock deployers established a bare base. In total, exercise participants responded to more than 90 exercise scenarios. Some of these injects included the simulated loss of power and chemical attacks. Roughly 280 players and 60 evaluators were involved in the event. Anthony Velazquez, 512th IG director of exercises, said a common theme he saw during the exercise was the positive attitude of everybody involved. “Everybody came together and tried to build this and make it the best version possible,” he said. “I was very proud to be part of this.” Edwards said what he saw during the exercise increased his appreciation of the Liberty Wing’s warrior ethos. “If things go wrong, I’m very comfortable with our ability to protect our assets and get out of Dodge if needed,” he said. “The exercise proved we are very capable.” The four-day exercise ended with a burger burn where Col. Eric J. Rivero, 512th AW commander, praised the reservists on their accomplishments. “You guys have really hit it out of the park,” he said. “What you have done by focusing on the mission and readiness has laid the groundwork for what we need to do and continue to do in the future.” The IG team and the evaluators met March 6 to analyze best practices and identify the challenging areas. “It was a steep learning curve in some spots,” said Velazquez. “But, the lessons learned from this exercise gives us a great opportunity to improve and make things better going forward.”