Paratroopers Depart March Air Base For Nighttime Training

MORENO VALLEY (CBSLA.COM) — Hundreds of paratroopers are loading onto cargo planes at March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley on Wednesday night and flying to Fort Irwin for joint training exercises with the Army.

The training exercise, called Operation Dragon Spear, will test the forces' ability to airlift ground troops into a hostile environment. It is one of the largest and most complex joint exercises between the Air Force and Army in more than a last decade. The training will include conducting raids in mock towns. Six months of planning has gone into the exercises.

Residents living close to the March Air Reserve Base can expect to hear noise from planes taking off until about 3 a.m.

"Tonight you're going to hear lots of the sounds of freedom," said Col. Gavin J. Gardner of the US Army 82nd Airborne Division Sustainment Brigade. "By all means, anyone who wants to cheer on their fellow countrymen going off to do some great training, we are all for it."