Photo By Mackenzie Brooks | Civil engineering and security forces leadership are laser focused on successful unit...... read more read more
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The near peer fight of tomorrow will be determined by how ready our force is today. With “just-in-time” training a thing of the past, civil engineering and security forces leadership are laser focused on successful unit led training opportunities that employ Air Force Regional Training Sites.
Beginning later this year, units will be offered the keys to the castle, an opportunity to execute full range military operations in an austere environment to meet the near peer threat and get after the pacing challenge.
The Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center is leading the effort to develop the regional training sites and planning proof-of-concept exercises this summer. The exercises are scheduled to take place at the Combat Support Training Complex at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, June 12-16 and July 17-24, and the Desert Defender Ground Combat Readiness Training Center at Fort Bliss, Texas, on August 8-17.
During the initial planning conference for the Fort Bliss proof-of-concept and mid planning conference for the Tyndall proof-of-concept at Tyndall May 1-4, leaders from the Air Force Directorate of Civil Engineers, Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center, Air Force Civil Engineer Center, Air Force Security Forces Center Detachment 3, 801st RED HORSE Training Squadron, and unit leaders participating in the exercises discussed the planning and logistics of this effort.
While the proofs of concept will begin with CE and SF Airmen because they are the largest career fields and require the most assets and land space, the goal is to eventually garner participation from all mission support career fields.
“The goal of RTS and unit led training is to build readiness beyond what units are comfortable executing at their home stations. We showcased civil engineering readiness for the pacing challenge with Readiness Challenge IX last week,” said Lt. Col. Craig Poulin, 801st RHTS commander.
Readiness Challenge is the Department of the Air Force’s annual civil engineer skills competition.
“Through this week-long competition, we learned there are capability gaps units can fill through sets and reps of focused training,” Poulin said.
RTS will allow Agile Combat Support commanders an opportunity for aggregated training and is one way to execute ACE concepts in an austere environment. But before units hit the ground running, there is work to be done. Commanders must hold a training needs analysis to determine what they require, because once they arrive, training is up to them for execution.
The expectation is to identify what can be trained at a home station and what training elements or events must be executed at training sites, like the Combat Support Training Complex or Desert Defender, prior to deployment.
While operating at an RTS, commanders can expect to hone their tactics, techniques and procedures while utilizing seldom seen equipment in collaboration with other units.
“The goal is to get logistical equipment that isn’t available to us at our home station in the hands of Airmen now, and to integrate the various capabilities into a seamlessly operational team,” said David Clifford, lead analyst for expeditionary and readiness training at Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center. “Now is the time to hone these skills. It is too late to train when Airmen deploy to theatre.”
“At Fort Bliss, we hope to take advantage of the opportunity for collaboration with CE that we normally don’t exploit at our home station,” said Capt. Kyle Lafferty, operations officer for the 99th Security Forces Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.
“CE will provide chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear and unexploded ordnance trainings for SF, and SF will provide shoot, move, communicate and mounted operations trainings. We look forward to enhancing our readiness by utilizing the occasion for this kind of training and the vast array of EOD ranges and land space offered at Fort Bliss,” Lafferty elaborated.
The ultimate goal of this effort is to eventually have training sites regionalized within a 10-hour driving distance from most Air Force bases in the continental United States, offering units an equal opportunity for participation.
If you are interested in learning more about RTS, visit: https://www.afimsc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3289189/afimsc-expanding-air-force-readiness-with-regional-training-sites/
| Date Taken: | 05.08.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 05.08.2023 12:29 |
| Story ID: | 444267 |
| Location: | TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 193 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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