CivMilAir reported 17 C-130s over Texas headed for a region near the Area 51 Airbase in Lincoln County, Nevada.
The first report of a massive military mobilization came from a social media account called @AChandlerCody, who allegedly shows video of 26 Lockheed C-130 Hercules preparing for takeoff at an undisclosed location at 8:47 pm.
The sound of 26 C-130s prepping for take off #USAF #FREEDOM pic.twitter.com/hO6od7tvZQ
— Chandler Cody (@AChandlerCody) December 9, 2018
About 38 minutes later, CivMilAir reported 17 C-130s over Texas headed for a region near the Area 51 Airbase in Lincoln County, Nevada.
Conga line of 18 USAF Hercs over Texas… ? pic.twitter.com/GGL5DOZ594
— CivMilAir ✈ (@CivMilAir) December 9, 2018
Multiple #USAF C-17As with THUG callsigns are en route to March ARB from the Nevada desert as part of JFEX (Joint Forcible Entry Exercise) 18B. pic.twitter.com/jtNzXRnCOK
— Aircraft Spots (@AircraftSpots) December 9, 2018
According to one Twitter user, there could have been as many as 38 warplanes participating in the JFEX.
— Charlie Xray (@BanditxrayV27) December 9, 2018
Another Twitter user showed the C-130s flying over Canyon de Chelly National Monument, a vast park in northeastern Arizona, around 11:13 pm.
Currently over Canyon de Chelly National Monument #Arizona #ApacheCounty #canyondechellyhttps://t.co/z7rfDD28dN pic.twitter.com/BeCjqG0VRp
— Eric Rosenwald (@rosenwald_eric) December 9, 2018
Twitter account @AircraftSpots spotted multiple “C-17As with THUG callsigns are en route to March ARB from the Nevada desert as part of JFEX.”
Multiple #USAF C-17As with THUG callsigns are en route to March ARB from the Nevada desert as part of JFEX (Joint Forcible Entry Exercise) 18B. pic.twitter.com/jtNzXRnCOK
— Aircraft Spots (@AircraftSpots) December 9, 2018
“At this same time last year, social media was flooded with videos of lights filling up the night sky as strings of C-17s and C-130s crossed the U.S. on their way primarily to the Nellis Test and Training Range (NTTR) in desolate Southern Nevada. This unique large force employment exercise (LFE) is among the most complex drills the USAF executes and it combines assets of all types, including fighters, surveillance aircraft, electronic warfare platforms, and throngs of ground troops and equipment that are dropped into or dropped off in simulated enemy territory,” said The Drive.
Here is what JFEX looked like a few years ago during a daytime exercise:
“The C-17s are working out of Keno Airstrip in the NTTR. As you can see, it is one impressive display of airpower. Also, keep in mind that there are so many other moving parts you don’t see in the video.”
The Drive also points out that the Nellis Test and Training Range was very active during the JFEX. There were surveillance aircraft, from RQ-4 Global Hawks to RC-135 Rivet Joints, orbiting around the range complex around 11:22 pm.
There’s a right party going on over Nevada… ?
?? USAF E-8C JSTARS
?? USAF E3 Sentry AWACS
?? USAF RC135W Rivet Joint
?? USAF EC-130H Compass Call
?? USAF RQ4 Global Hawk
?? USAF KC135 tanker pic.twitter.com/YmOfMGRAq4— CivMilAir ✈ (@CivMilAir) December 8, 2018
“JFEX has become far more relevant in recent years as the U.S. has started to come to terms with the reality that winning an expeditionary fight against a peer state competitor is an increasingly dubious challenge. Anti-access and area-denial strategies have left the services scrambling to adapt to having to fight an enemy over long distances and breaking open new avenues into their increasingly expansive and fortified domain. Being able to use the Pentagon’s potent but limited airlift capacity to rapidly open up new bases of operation and vectors of attack even at very austere and remote locales in becoming a key tenet of future combat operations. This is exactly what JFEX is all about, punching into contested territory over long distances by surprise and setting up a foothold for expanded operations,” said The Drive.
With massive war preparations underway, who is the USAF planning to invade next?
