JSTARS provides maritime over-watch for lost diver simulation

Story and photos by 116th Air Control Wing

Georgia Air National Guard

The E-8C Joint Stars provided real-time maritime over-watch to personnel on the water during a lost diver simulation for the Emerald Warrior exercise in April.

Flying off the waters of the Gulf Coast, JSTARS’ unique wide-area, all-weather, surface surveillance radar and on-board communications suite allowed aircrew to send realistic and relevant maritime data to U.S. Special Operations Forces, conventional forces, interagency and partner nation participants for the safe extraction of the lost diver scenario.

“This exercise allowed JSTARS to demonstrate its agility in land to water surface movement as well as build relationships with U.S. forces, allied partners and civil authorities,” said a 128th Airborne Command and Control Squadron mission crew commander.

Flown by the members of the Georgia Air National Guard’s 116th Air Control Wing, along with Soldiers from the 138th Military Intelligence Company, the JSTARS aircrew utilized the platforms command and control, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance competencies simultaneously, demonstrating the aircrafts varied and exclusive capabilities.

“Our participation in Emerald Warrior allowed us to train and grow our knowledge base for real-world scenarios we may encounter while protecting the homeland and in other combatant commands,” said the mission crew commander.

Emerald Warrior is an annual two-week joint military exercise that is engineered to better prepare military forces to assist interagency partners to protect the homeland from foreign and domestic enemies.

“Emerald Warrior provided un-paralleled training and special operation forces integration between Rivet Joint and JSTARS providing real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information to tactical players,” said a Rivet Joint tactical coordinator.

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