Moody Airmen jump into Bright Star '07

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Spencer Gallien
  • 23rd Wing Public Affairs
MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  Airmen from the 820th Security Forces Group recently participated in a U.S. Central Command coalition exercise held in Egypt.

The exercise, Bright Star '07, was hosted by the Egyptian government and involved thousands of troops from 13 countries including France, Britain, Greece, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Jordan and Kuwait.

"The exercise is designed to build military cooperation and readiness among the United States and other coalition countries," said Maj. Michael Borders, 820th Security Forces Group Operations Division chief. "Bright Star is primarily a command post exercise, but it also hosts airborne and special operations forces field training exercises."

For the first time, 15 Airmen from the 820th SFG were invited to participate in the airborne portion of the exercise.

"Bright Star is a huge exercise," said Staff Sgt. David Zondor, 820th SFG parachute program manager. "We only participated in a very small portion of it, which was the airborne task force."

More than 450 personnel, including about 130 parachutists, participated in a friendship jump to promote good relations between allied forces.

Training for the Moody Airmen began Nov. 3 at Fort Campbell, Ky., where the parachutists received the specific knowledge needed for a jump into Cairo, Egypt.

On Nov. 7, two C-17 Globemaster IIIs took off from Fort Campbell, Ky., and flew the 130 jumpers nearly 14 hours to the drop zone over Cairo, Egypt. The pre-training at Fort Campbell came to fruition as the aircraft reached the drop zone and the jumpers landed for the first time in-country under their parachutes.

Sergeant Zondor acted as the Army/Air Force liaison for the parachute portion of the Bright Star exercise.

"Our participation in the exercise was a great stepping stone," said Sergeant Zondor. "It gave us the opportunity to demonstrate the Air Force's airborne capability."

Despite the language barriers, the airborne operation went off without a hitch according to Sergeant Zondor, who performed primary jumpmaster duties during the friendship jump.

Although this was the first year the 820th SFG Airmen participated in the exercise, they stepped up to the challenge, said Major Borders.

"Our Airmen's professionalism shined during the exercise," he said. "They definitely made a positive impact on our sister services and coalition forces involved.

"Participating in Bright Star has been a goal of the 820th SFG for a long time," he added. "It was a credibility step for future exercises and worldwide operations in our ever-expanding mission"