'Kiwi' Makes History for 13th Air Force and 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command

by Spc. Kevin Queral; 94th AAMDC Air Defense Systems Operator (Photos  by Lt. Scott Sanders, CV-63)

     Although the Kiwi is a flightless, nocturnal, native bird of New Zealand, Army Chief Warrant Officer Sam "Kiwi" Ngaropo, representing 13th Air Force and the 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command (AAMDC), made a historic flight, arrested landing and catapult on the USS Kitty Hawk, the Navy's oldest and only conventional aircraft-carrier in the fleet. He was on the Kitty Hawk as 13th Air Force’s Joint Interface Control Officer (JICO) for exercise Valiant Shield 07.

     “It was an awesome experience to catch the No. 3 arresting wire and also catapult from the carrier, but more importantly to witness first hand the amazing operations in the ship’s Combat Direction Center (CDC) and Regional Interface Control Cell (RICC). In the last six months, 13th Air Force has hosted two ballistic missile defense (BMD) conferences, which have drastically improved joint and bilateral ballistic defense missile operations, but one doesn't understand all the challenges unless you are at the tactical level, like I was on the Kitty Hawk,” said Ngaropo.

     “As a joint team we must be familiar with each service capabilities so we have an understanding on what we all bring to the fight, so it’s great to have "Kiwi" with us to see how we conduct daily business,” said Lt. Scott Sanders, CTF-70 Joint Interface Control Officer. “Over the last four months, we have jointly orchestrated two of the biggest missile simulated exercises in the Pacific, which included passing data, and voice to our theater missile defense systems, both Japanese and US. Kiwi has had the opportunity to see how the Navy can execute and coordinate missions of this nature and link to Aegis cruisers in the Philippine Sea, a Patriot battalion on Okinawa, and ANTPY-2 Radars operating out of northern Japan, and simultaneously link all of this to Lt. Gen Loyd S. “Chip” Utterback, our Joint Functional Air Component Commander (JFACC) on Hickam Air Force Base, for his battlefield decisions.”

CW3 Sam “Kiwi” Ngaropo at  Anderson Air Force Base, Guam, as he prepares to board a delivery plane for the flight to the USS Kitty Hawk and Carrier Task Force 70.

     “Over the last five days the Kitty Hawk Strike Group also completed the first data links from the submarine, USS Houston, to Navy and Air Force airborne relays and back to the 613th Air Operations Center (AOC) for dissemination,” said Commander Reese Morgan, CTF 70 N6 Communications Officer. “We are currently off the coast of Guam with the USS Nimitz and USS Stennis Carrier Groups along with numerous 13th Air Force assets. Communi-cations flexed in this exercise would also be used during a real world missile defense contingency. I know Kiwi will have a better appreciation for what we do on the seas, and I know that he has been entertained with our general quarters (GQ) training and was extremely impressed with the Kitty Hawk’s recent man-overboard drill, which did not conclude until his fellow civilian Joint Interface Control Officer (JICO), Mr. Billy O'rawe, was found. Although this was a drill, the importance of this and much of the training he witnessed was priceless.”

Lt. Scott Sanders (CTF-70 JICO) and CW3 Sam Ngaropo (13AF JICO) plan a ballistic missile  mission in the Kitty Hawk Regional Interface Control Cell (RICC).

     As Commander 13th Air Forces and Joint Functional Air Component Commander (JFACC), Utterback could not stress enough the importance of joint and bilateral teamwork in making the very complex ballistic missile defense mission work.

      “We must work and train together now, train as we would fight, continue to meet and discuss issues, know our joint tactics, techniques and procedures, so when we are called upon to defend our nation in this theater, we are ready,” said Utterback, during closing comments to the July Ballistic Missile Defense Conference. “There is a threat; we know there is but because of our joint work and what we are all doing today as that joint team, Utterback. “We will be ready.”