Air Force deploys to international exercise

A Royal New Zealand Air Force C-130J Hercules aircraft from No. 40 Squadron is taking part in this year’s Exercise Mobility Guardian in Guam.

17 July, 2025

The exercise is the air mobility component of the United States Air Force (USAF) Exercise Resolute Force Pacific, which aims at the delivery of air combat power at the levels needed to deal with a rapidly escalating crisis, should one occur.

Some 30 personnel are deployed with the aircraft, including aircrew, maintainers, an Air Load Team and Defence Force medics as aeromedical observers.

Detachment commander Squadron Leader Mel Fieldes highlighted the value of operating alongside other militaries in a deployed environment, calling it an excellent training opportunity for personnel.

One of our new C-130J Hercules is busy conducting air mobility tasks with Defence partners in Exercise Mobility Guardian in Guam.

“This exercise delivers substantial benefits to us in building co-operation and interoperability with several of our Defence partners, with whom we have a shared commitment to regional security and stability,” she said.

“We’re enhancing the way we operate together under pressure, ensuring we’re ready to respond rapidly and effectively to shared security challenges.”

“It also marks an important milestone for our new C-130J aircraft, as this is the first exercise where we are integrating our new aircraft into joint air mobility tasking with our partners.”

In addition to the USAF, participants in Exercise Mobility Guardian include the Air Forces of Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, the Republic of Korea, the United States Marine Corps, US Army and the Japanese Self-Defence Force. The exercise runs until 28 July.

Find out more about our C-130J-30 Hercules aircraft.