Exercise Gryphon Thunder Showcases ACE Across the Pacific

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt Rachael Parks
  • 353rd Special Operations Wing

Fully-vaccinated members from 353rd Special Operations Wing deployed from Okinawa, Japan to Hawaii, where they practiced establishing refueling capabilities, maintenance operations, and personnel/equipment drops alongside conventional Air Force partners and joint military partners in the Army, Marines, and Navy. Notably, Air Commandos with the 353rd completed the first-ever refueling and simultaneous rearming of an F-22 Raptor assigned to the Hawaii Air National Guard from an MC-130J Air Commando II in the pacific. This exercise demonstrates how exactly the 353 SOW extends U.S. Air Force Special Operations Forces anywhere and to anyone across the Indo-Pacific.