Photo By Senior Airman Brooke Keisler | Tech. Sgt. Timothy Puente, 606th Air Control Squadron (ACS) tactical satellite...... read more read more
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AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy – In support of Astral Knight 2021 (AK21), a joint multinational exercise involving six different countries and approximately 1,900 combined joint forces, two 606th Air Control Squadron (ACS) teams are operating out of forward-deployed locations in Slovenia and Croatia. At Aviano, the 606th ACS is on active standby to provide backup air control for the forward-deployed locations.
“Communication during any exercise is important, starting with the initial planning phase and continuing until after actions are documented,” said U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Chris Colgrove, 606th ACS flight commander of network operations and site lead for the deployed radar.
AK21 aims to broaden command and control and conduct integrated air and missile defense (IAMD) capabilities of various terrains, and the 606th ACS is supporting that mission at each forward-deployed location.
The 606th ACS utilizes the Theater Operationally Resilient Command and Control (TORCC) weapons system and relays IAMD and command and control to pilots participating in the exercise, including directions for missions and threat awareness.
“While in Croatia, we are utilizing the full component of our agile C2 system TORCC for the first time ever in a major exercise,” said U.S. Air Force Capt. Daniel Eyrolles, 606th ACS chief of agile mission and site lead in Croatia.
Supporting a forward-deployed location usually requires approximately 150 personnel, 20 five-ton trucks or five C-17 Globemasters, and extensive preparation and logistics, said Eyrolles.
The TORCC system cuts down the number of personnel required to sustain a forward-deployed location, so those numbers were reduced to just 17 Airmen from the 606th ACS to support AK21 in Croatia.
“For AK21, we moved our entire system in two cargo vans, three passenger minivans and are utilizing existing host nation facilities to operate out of,” said Eyrolles. “We are developing proof of CONOPS (concept of operations) for future TORCC deployments in and around USAFE-AFAF [U.S. Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa] area of responsibility.”
The 606th ACS is prepared to deploy radars, radios and battlefield management to control sites within 72 hours and extend operational control abilities anytime, anywhere, said Colgrove.
Communication allows information to be passed from one person to another, said Colgrove. During AK21, the 606th ACS is communicating effectively and efficiently.
“With so many units relying on each other for mission accomplishment, communication has to freely flow between all entities, and none of this can happen without the fantastic communications and support personnel we have,” said Colgrove. “They work each and every day to provide our controllers with every tool they need to ensure safe and reliable airspace control during missions.”
| Date Taken: | 05.19.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 05.19.2021 10:43 |
| Story ID: | 396827 |
| Location: | AVIANO AIR BASE, IT |
| Web Views: | 89 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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