Surge Exercise at Moody Air Force Base involved A-10C Thunderbolt IIs, HH-60G Pave Hawks, and HC-130J Combat King II aircraft.

On May 22, aircraft from the 23d Wing, conducted a “surge exercise” at their home base at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia.

HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter, A-10C Thunderbolt II jets and HC-130K Combat King II took part in the exercise whose aim was to demonstrate the wing’s ability to rapidly deploy and launch combat ready forces.

The exercise also featured a typical Elephant Walk carried out by one Pave Hawk, two Combat King II and 30 fully armed A-10C Warthogs. As already explained several times in the past, during Elephant Walk exercises military aircraft taxi in close formation or in sequence right before a minimum interval takeoff and, depending on the purpose of the training event they then either take off or taxi back to the apron.

“Elephant Walks” are particularly frequent in South Korea where local-based U.S. Air Force jets (often alongside Republic of Korea Air Force planes) frequently stage such “collective shows of force” in response to North Korea’s aggressive posture and threats.