SalisburyPlainAviation's video: NATO Exercise Joint Warrior 2015 - Keevil Air Operations

This is a short movie of air operations at a disused MoD airfield in Wiltshire used as a forward air base for the battle scenario in Wales. The exercise is a twice a year NATO ex called Joint Warrior. It included tank battles around the country and ship battles off Scotland. The Keevil air base was supporting the ground battlespace in Wales with various helicopters and fixed-wing transports. Keevil airfield is a disused MoD airfield used for occasional air training. Hercules and Globemaster transports practice day dropping and night operations at Keevil. Apache attack helicopters often use the airfield for operations training too. When this is not happening the Bannerdown Gliding Club, and RAF/public concern flies from Keevil. The airfield was first taken over by UK troops and then held against hostile forces. Helicopters and C-130s took troops and vehicles to the Castlemarti tank range in Pembrokeshire, Wales, which represented the front-line battle field. Later in the week these assets were re-assigned to Sculthorpe airfield in Suffolk (as similar airfield to Keevil). Keevil was meant to be a forward air base for helicopter operations with 6 Apaches guarding the airfield and heading to Castlemartin and into the Salisbury Plain to fight alongside NATO ground forces where tank and troop battles raged. Airfield operations were under war conditions with rotors running refuelling, unloading of cargo planes with engines running at the end of the active runway and troops acting as enemy irregulars who were interdicted by the Apache helicopters. The Chinooks were most interesting as they flew with underslung loads regularly (USLs) and I was fortunate to watch the lifting Army Land Rover vehicles and fuel 'balls' as seen in this video. This video was taken between Sunday 19th April through to Thursday 23rd of April 2015.