{"id":24878,"date":"2020-07-01T14:45:36","date_gmt":"2020-07-01T14:45:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/07\/01\/paratroopers-flew-from-alaska-to-practice-seizing-a-pacific-air-base\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:22:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:22:44","slug":"paratroopers-flew-from-alaska-to-practice-seizing-a-pacific-air-base","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2020\/07\/01\/paratroopers-flew-from-alaska-to-practice-seizing-a-pacific-air-base\/","title":{"rendered":"Paratroopers flew from Alaska to practice seizing a Pacific air base"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Paratroopers from 4th Brigade, 25th Infantry Division<\/a>, had only a few days notice ahead of an airborne operation to practice seizing territory in the Indo-Pacific region<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 350 soldiers flew aboard several C-17 Globemasters<\/a> from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson<\/a>, Alaska, to the U.S. island territory of Guam, donning parachute rigs en route, and jumped in to secure an airfield on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Army Alaska spokesman Maj. Charlie Dietz told Army Times the jump was \u201cthe largest airborne operation in Guam that we are aware of in recent times.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The point of the exercise was to showcase a rapid ability to seize territory across the Pacific, even amid a global pandemic<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere have been beliefs that [our] military power has been significantly downgraded because of COVID, so doing this mission disproves that by showing that even from as far away as Alaska, we are ready to get where we need to be in a time of need,\u201d said Dietz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Paratroopers assigned to the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, U.S. Army Alaska, conduct a Joint Forcible Entry Operation (JFEO) jump into Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, June 30. The paratroopers are part of the Army\u2019s only Pacific airborne brigade with the ability to rapidly deploy worldwide. They are trained to conduct military operations in austere conditions and stay protected in the COVID environment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Divine Cox)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Each paratrooper and all support personnel were tested before the mission for COVID-19 and received negative results, according to the Army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The troops will also be quarantined on Andersen Air Force Base when in Guam, \u201cand will stay in a safety bubble from everyone else to ensure there is no opportunity for the virus to spread,\u201d Dietz added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The COVID-19 pandemic curtailed some of the Army\u2019s largest training exercises planned for the year, including Defender Europe 2020, which was supposed to take place this spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army\u2019s Pacific Pathways exercises were also diminished briefly but are beginning to restart.<\/p>\n\n\n\t