Nearly 800 paratroopers assigned to 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 11th Airborne Division, conducted a large-scale joint forceable entry operation onto Malemute Drop Zone in Alaskan history for Arctic Aloha as part of Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center 25-01, Oct. 15, 2024.
Arctic Aloha, which began on Oct. 7, conducted alongside airmen and flight crews from the Air Force’s 15th, 62nd and 154th Wings, using 12 C-17 Globemaster III aircraft, featured airborne operations onto two drop zones in Hawaii and Alaska, to increase interoperability while projecting a combat credible force, and gave 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) paratroopers experience jumping into varied terrain, all key capabilities in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific.
“This has been a fantastic exercise for us for a bunch of reasons. First, we get to exercise our ability to rapidly deploy, conduct joint force military operations out of Alaska into INDO-PACOM,” said Col. Jimmy Howell, commander of the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), known as the Spartans.
The brigade departed Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, conducted a in-flight rig, then executed a JFEO into Transfiguracion drop zone on Big Island to begin Arctic Aloha.
“Now, for this rotation, which was different than last year, we’re actually part of 25th ID’s rotation… so we jumped about 800 paratroopers, into Transfiguracion drop zone, walked, about 18 miles total uphill, to secure an airfield, Bradshaw Army Airfield,” Howell continued.
Conducting airborne operations in Hawaii provided the Spartan paratroopers an opportunity to hone their warfighting skills in an ever-changing environment, and Arctic Aloha is a chance to demonstrate the division’s ability to quickly project ready, lethal forces anywhere throughout the Indo-Pacific.
“One thing I’ll say, these paratroopers can do it all,” explained Howell. “It was about 30 degrees when we left and about 80 degrees in Hawaii, 5000ft elevation total. So that takes a toll, it’s taxing on your body.”
The Spartan Brigade then occupied a hangar and prepared with the joint force to conduct a subsequent airborne operation back into Alaska.
The exercise was in support of Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center 25-01, the 25th Infantry Division’s Combat Training Center rotation at home station. JPMRC facilitates unit readiness in the Indo-Pacific region and allows commanders to train their forces in the unique environments and conditions where they are most likely to campaign or be employed in the event of crisis.
“So, it takes the entire joint force. They have been planning and preparing for a very long time, but to see the amount of folks that participate in our joint rehearsals, our joint mission briefs, it is it is really at another level,” Howell explained. “And I couldn’t be prouder of my team in the entire joint force for the way that we’re working together.”
