The exercise originated from two exercises (Real Warm and Real Thaw 2008) organized at Montijo Air Base (BA5) in 2008 with the personnel from 201 Squadron and 301 Squadron. The first official Real Thaw took place in 2009 and has since been coordinated and hosted by the BA5 personnel, and involves ground-attack, close air support, combat search and rescue, tactical transport, Composite Air Operations (COMAO), personnel recovery, Slow Mover Protection, High Value Airborne Protection (HVAA), convoy escort and electronic warfare operations.