Spring Spartan Strengthens Airmen Readiness
by U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Bernard Pull
May 23, 2026

There’s chaos in every direction; adrenaline flows as hearts begin to race ... However, the Airmen of the 445th Airlift Wing can be confident knowing the training they received prepared them for these situations.

These Airmen maintain their skills through various training exercises such as Operation Spring Spartan that took place in April 2026 that included ... the 445th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, 445th Civil Engineer Squadron, 445th Force Support Squadron, 445th Logistics Readiness Squadron and 445th Security Forces Squadron.

Spring Spartan was created to enhance the warfighter capabilities needed for deployed environments. It focused on evacuation alarm signals, attack response procedures, tactical combat casualty care and other critical skills needed during and after attacks.

“The perishable skills that a lot of us practice only during exercises, you lose focus on because we don’t utilize them that much,” said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Johnathan Johnson, 445th CES emergency manager. “That repetition builds confidence because it builds your preparedness. When our people go downrange, that muscle memory takes effect.”

Exercises like these reinforce the importance of staying ready for the unexpected by making Spring Spartan realistic, aiding in Airmen readiness.

“When the alarms are going off, you can put yourself in the mindset of a real-world situation,” said Senior Airman Dawn Adams, 445th CES engineering assistant apprentice. “Thinking about all the things that can happen, you have to be ready for anything.”

Although the goal was to make the exercise as realistic as possible, it was still important to balance realism and safety.

“You want to make it realistic, but at the same time you don’t want people getting hurt,” Johnson stated. “You can calculate risk during an exercise. When you want to inject realism, you look at how much of a calculated risk you want to put into that realism. Sometimes it’s writing a situation where the person can put themselves in a scenario through sound, instruction or forward thinking.”

One of the most memorable moments happened when a member of the 445th SFS, acting as the opposing force, aggressively attempted to enter a facility during a scenario.

“When I first saw it happening, I thought it was a real-world situation, I had to remind myself he was playing a part,” said Johnson. “That was my favorite part of the exercise because it was strictly the actions of this Airman that made this situation realistic.”

When designing this exercise, the goal was to set the Airmen up for success by using it to build confidence in their skills and be prepared to perform the task required for the mission.

“We want to make sure when people leave the training environment they feel better about themselves, what they learned and the mission,” Johnson said. “Everyone cares about the mission you’re doing. They care about you as an individual and everything that you’re sacrificing. Everything is to set you up for success downrange. Our people are our number one priority; we want to make sure they’re taken care of.”

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