World War 3: USAF preps to use C-130 on U.S. Highways! Red Dawn for reals?

Wyoming Air National Guard photo by Jacqueline Marshall.

“This is an exercise evolution of the Rally in the Valley 2020 exercise conducted in West Virginia. Our efforts will prepare Reserve and National Guard units to execute at the speed and range required to take on near-peer adversaries. Additional training included combat airlift as well as multi-capable mobility Airmen who are able to refuel and re-arm aircraft in austere locations with minimal support.”-Major Christopher Acs, 327th Airlift Squadron, U.S. Air Force Reserve (USAFR)

WANG photo by Jacqueline Marshall, 13SEP2021.

U.S. Air Force Reserve photo by Major Ashely Walker, 13SEP2021.

13SEP2021 saw a dramatic opening to wargame Rally in the Rockies 2021; for the first time a C-130J Super Hercules intentionally landed on U.S. Route 287, in the middle of nowhere rural Wyoming (near Rawlings)!

U.S. Air Force Reserve video by Major Ashely Walker, 13SEP2021:

WANG photo by Jacqueline Marshall.

So far, all the news outlets reporting this landing are calling it Highway 287 which is incorrect. It is officially U.S. Route 287 (aka US287). It would be okay if they wrote highway with a lower case ‘h’, but they use an upper case ‘H’ which indicates an official title.

Cowboy State Daily’s quick slo-mo video of landing:

WANG photo by Jacqueline Marshall.

Anybody thinking about the Cold War era movie Red Dawn, supposedly taking place in next-door-from-Wyoming Colorado?

USAFR photo by Major Ashley Walker.

Rally in the Rockies is scheduled to run from September 13th through the 16th. It involves 12 military units from various state National Guards and the USAFR, as well as the Wyoming Department of Transportation. The wargame is preparation for combat operations within the United States, for ‘contested areas’!

USAF photo by Lieutenant Colonel Marnee A.C. Losurdo, 14SEP2021.

C-130H from Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia, drops supplies near Rifle Garfield County Airport, Colorado.

USAF photo by Major Ashley Walker, 13SEP2021.

The first day of Rally in the Rockies also involved USAFR C-130Hs operating from a Landing Zone near Guernsey, Wyoming. The wargame simulating conflict inside the United States involved the states of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.