Kentucky Air National Guard C-130Js train in Scotland with Royal Navy

Four C-130J Hercules, about 60 personnel and 62,000 lbs of equipment from the Kentucky Air National Guard's 165th Airlift Squadron deployed to Glasgow Prestwick Airport in August for eight days of training with allied forces, among them the Royal Navy and the Royal Canadian Air Force.

According to the unit, the programme covered a broad slice of the Hercules' taskings and was set up to build interoperability and unit readiness. It included rapid reaction launches with engine-on refuelling, low level formation flying over the Scottish hills, and work over open water with the Royal Navy.

On 19 August, a five-ship low level formation flight along the coast of Scotland brought together all of the deployed C-130Js plus one aircraft from the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Lt. Col. Nick Reinke, a C-130 pilot and the mission commander, said the deployment was arranged to fit in a large amount of continuation and tactical training while using an unfamiliar overseas operating environment and the chance to work directly with allied partners. Such individual training events can be flown in the United States, he said, but an unfamiliar environment is much harder to reproduce.

Reinke described the integration with the Royal Navy as one of the exercise's highlights, saying it gave the unit's pararescue personnel the opportunity to train alongside the partner force.