Kadena, New Zealand Air Force Conducts First Joint Military Exercise Following Pandemic Danger
From April 29 to May 29, members of the 353rd Special Operations Wing from Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, went Down Under. They flew three MC-130J Super Hercules aircraft with older C-130H Hercules aircraft from the No. 40 Squadron of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. From RNZAF facilities in Auckland and Woodbourne, the aircraft conducted low-level day and nighttime flights.
Since the 2019 coronavirus epidemic, Special Operations airmen from the United States and New Zealand have been training together for the first time. The training is scheduled yearly but has been put on hold due to pandemic limitations. Airmen sampled wines from New Zealand’s Marlborough area and visited filming sites for “The Lord of the Rings” in-between training sessions.
