Photo By Tech. Sgt. Kathleen LaCorte | U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jack Glad, aircraft turn supervisor assigned to the 122nd...... read more read more
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ALPENA COMBAT READINESS TRAINING CENTER, Mich. - The 122nd Fighter Wing (FW) catapulted into the future of modern U.S. combat airpower with its first Agile Combat Employment (ACE) large scale readiness exercise (LSRE). The LSRE scenario consisted of a forward operating base with an additional contingency location to project airpower; the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center ideally complemented the 122nd FW for this multi-location exercise framework.
A-10C Thunderbolt II aircraft, along with a smaller contingency team, executed the LSRE at the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center in Alpena, Michigan, while the main body of the 122nd FW executed the LSRE at home base in Fort Wayne, Indiana July 9-15, 2022.
“It’s a base-wide, large scale readiness exercise,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Roderick R. Metzler, wing plans officer assigned to the 122nd FW. “The intent of it is to demonstrate that we can generate, employ and sustain in a contested degraded environment.”
The exercise implements a new Air Force doctrine called ACE which addresses the current threat environment with empowered, innovative Airmen and operational unpredictability.
ACE is the future of strategic American airpower. ACE shifts generation of airpower from large, centralized bases to networks of smaller locations, or cluster bases. The projection of U.S. airpower under the ACE model allows joint and coalition commanders to move forces fluidly to surprise the enemy with unpredictable and strategic maneuvers.
“Agile Combat Employment is really the flexibility that we’re trying to employ with a lot less people, a lot less equipment and a lot less aircraft than we’re previously accustomed to,” said U.S. Air Force Capt. Cole Hoopingarner, ACE program manager and the 122nd FW Maintenance Squadron commander. “The mission of this exercise is really to evaluate our ability to take a small maintenance team, a minimum amount of equipment and aircraft parts to see if we can sustain similar generation rates that we would employ back at a forward operating base.”
Not only is the 122nd FW forging new territory with ACE, it is also leading innovation in its ACE implementation strategy.
“It is groundbreaking in that we’ve been given, as the base, autonomy to figure it out ourselves, so in that way, nobody else is using our team structure,” said Hoopingarner. “You’ve got crew chiefs and then you’ve got your maintenance squadron back shops with your electricians, NDI guys, engine shop guys, that are on the [ACE] team so that’s different from what anybody else is really doing.”
During the exercise, A-10 crew chiefs executed their traditional crew chief tasks in addition to other tasks using their newly acquired skills through ACE training. The additional tasks included loading rockets, cartridges, and chaff and flare onto the A-10.
While the crew chiefs practiced their enhanced skill set during the exercise, other non-crew chief Airmen assigned to the 122nd FW Maintenance Group cross trained on traditional crew chief tasks to prepare to fill the role of an ACE team member.
“It’s newer territory, just based on the fact that we’re asking our Airmen to expand their skillsets that they aren’t previously trained in and then to ask them to critically think through certain scenarios that they normally wouldn’t be presented at their rank,” said Hoopingarner. “It’s new territory for me as a commander to oversee and train our Airmen in that way.”
The Airmen who are training in cross-functional tasks on the ACE team already have training in several different jobs such as ammunition, weapons, crew chief, auxiliary ground equipment, electrical and environmental, repair and reclamation, engines, and avionics.
“What I’ve seen in the past day and a half that we’ve done this, is excitement and understanding of their role in the ACE team,” Hoopingarner said. “About 50 percent of our ACE team are non-crew chiefs, so we’ve been training those Airmen on launch recovery and refuel of an A-10 when their specialty is in fixing engines or the electrical systems or avionics systems in the A-10.”
The ACE team is trained to operate in a logistically constrained environment, with minimum support, minimum manpower and minimum equipment. The ACE team includes highly trained multi-capable Airmen who have the ability to approach uncertainty and challenges in a contested environment by using critical thinking and applying adapting techniques.
In addition to executing newly trained skills, the 122nd FW ACE team conducted a challenging and more risky maneuver called the Integrated Combat Turn (ICT) which involved refueling and rearming the A-10 while the aircraft and pilot sat on the flight line with engines still running in preparation for another takeoff.
“An Integrated Combat Turn is where we reload and refuel an A-10 at the same time,” said Hoopingarner. “The idea behind an ICT is to minimize aircraft ground time so the A-10 can maximize their time in the air.”
This is the first exercise where the entire 122nd FW ACE team executed a full air tasking order ICT. The team has trained for approximately one year and now has the opportunity to put their training into practice.
“An ICT includes refueling so the engines never shut down,” said U.S. Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Arek Howe, 122nd FW Maintenance Group superintendent. “What you’re doing is you’re refueling, but now you’re also adding weapons loading function into the refuel so that’s two concurrent servicing operations that are happening at the same time.”
The ICT maneuver is one layer of operational unpredictability that the 122nd FW can add to its ACE capabilities. Operational maneuvers like the ICT increase force survivability and generate more military options for the commander in a contested environment.
“This is a great exercise because there are scenarios thrown at them that force the Airmen to critically think and think on their feet, what would we do, what is the best outcome for this situation,” said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Joshua Smith, first sergeant with the 122nd FW Medical Group. “It makes the Airmen stronger, more confident in what they’re doing and then they expand that knowledge base that they have.”
| Date Taken: | 07.14.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 08.27.2022 14:38 |
| Story ID: | 427669 |
| Location: | ALPENA, MICHIGAN, US |
| Hometown: | FORT WAYNE, INDIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 134 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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Air National Guard
A-10 Thunderbolt II
Indiana
