Paratroopers of 6th Engineer Battalion partner with Airmen of 537th Airlift Squadron to blaze new trails Published March 28, 2012 By Senior Airman Blake Mize JBER Public Affairs JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- Several units stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson came together March 13 to accomplish a truly joint mission. Soldiers and Airmen worked as a joint team in order to validate the base's capability to conduct arctic engineer missions, which includes the ability to conduct forced-entry and airborne operations in arctic conditions. "We are conducting an air drop of a small-unit support vehicle, or SUSV, followed by a ramp exit out of a C-130 (Hercules) by our paratroopers," said Army Lt. Col. Marc Hoffmeister, 6th Engineer Battalion commander. Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Wiles, 6th Eng., said there were approximately 50 paratroopers who participated in the exercise. They were readied for the mission by Soldiers from their own battalion and Airmen from the 673d Logistics Readiness Squadron, and were transported in the C-130s by pilots from the 537th Airlift Squadron. Hoffmeister said the SUSV, a tracked, articulated vehicle designed to support infantry platoons and similar-sized units during the conduct of operations in arctic and alpine conditions, allows the Soldiers to more easily move in the snow-covered Alaskan terrain. "The significance of the SUSV is that we have the ability to move a lot more personnel by running a rope behind the SUSV while skiers grab onto it," The Brewster, Mass. native said. "After we have assembled onto the SUSV and put it into operation, a squad-strength (group) will ski off of the drop zone." Another aspect of the mission was to test a new method of jumping into arctic conditions in which the jumper has skis with him as he descends from the aircraft. "We have one jumper who is jumping with skis today. We are test-casing a new rigging method for skis using what is called a side air pack," Hoffmeister said. "In coordination with Fort Benning, Ga., we came up with a standard on how to rig these skis in the side pack to safely deliver them with the jumper. So we'll test that out and do the ramp exits today so our next jump, up to a platoon can jump into the drop zone with skis and be positioned to ski off immediately." This mission, which was featured on Anchorage's KTUU nightly news broadcast, was just one example, Hoffmeister said, of the many joint operations that take place on a daily basis at JBER. "Every airborne operation is a completely joint operation," he said. "That starts at the top level and goes all the way to the jumpmasters and the crew chiefs of the aircraft." And although the paratroopers from the 6th Eng. may have been the ones who wound up featured on the news, Wiles, from Erie, Kan., said that it could not have been done without all the units that truly make JBER a joint operation. "We wouldn't be able to complete these missions without all the people behind the scenes," Wiles said.