Photo By Airman 1st Class Zachary Jakel | U.S. Air Force Airmen from the 4th Expeditionary Air Support Operations Squadron and...... read more read more
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Squadrons from the 31st Fighter Wing, Aviano Air Base, Italy and the 435th Air Ground Operations Wing, Ramstein AB, Germany, collaborated in an Agile Control Integration Team exercise at Aviano AB, Italy, July 5-21, 2023.
The success of the exercise hinged on contributions from seven squadrons, as they each provided essential elements to ensure its effectiveness. From the 31st FW, the 606th Air Control Squadron, 57th Rescue Squadron, 510th Fighter Squadron, and 31st Operations Support Squadron contributed with both air and ground assets. Alternatively, the 435th AGOW, including the 2nd Air Support Operations Squadron, 4th Expeditionary Air Support Operations Squadron, and the 1st Combat Communications Squadron, provided valuable support with their ground and spectrum assets.
“The training encompassed modernized ways of assisting the Air Force through a dynamic targeting cycle,” said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Richard Garrett, 2nd Air Support Operations Squadron flight chief.
Throughout the exercise, tactical air control party specialists from the 2nd ASOS and pararescue operators from the 57th RQS conducted searches on the training range to locate mock adversary equipment and personnel, which were replicated by 5-ton vehicles and personnel from the 31st FW. When a mock adversary was identified, the TAC-P’s relayed the coordinates to the ACIT stationed on the 606th ACS compound. The ACIT then communicated this information to the 510th FS, in the form of a dynamic target to practice weapons employment.
“At the risk of oversimplifying it, it's a game of hide-and-seek; the adversary is attempting to hide their personnel and equipment,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Emanuel Martin, 606th ACS assistant director of operations and exercise director. “Through deliberate teamwork with the 2nd ASOS and 4th EASOS, we were able to get the desired outcomes on the air and ground assets we targeted.”
During the exercise, the 606th ACS and the 4th EASOS worked together to form an ACIT: a seven-person mobile tactical command and control team that can employ next generation communication equipment to operate and execute missions anytime, anywhere in a contested and degraded environment. To make sure the team can live up to anytime, anywhere, Airmen from each squadron took one week to teach their peers on specific skillsets, equipment and how that skill compliments the team. After academics, the combined team practiced repetitions in a simulator for a week in the first stage of putting theory to test. Once the operating concept was refined, it was time for a one-week capstone on a training range stressing each team’s ability to work together against both the elements and a live opposition force.
“The uniqueness of this exercise is that it is an organic 31st FW exercise purpose-built to further the ACIT mission set,” said Martin. “Additionally, we were able to refine current, and develop new, techniques, tactics and procedures for TAC-P, command and control and rescue teaming in support of pacing competition. During this exercise, we identified areas that need additional testing and discovered innovative ways to utilize existing equipment, enhancing the Agile Combat Employment capability of all our weapons systems.”
Despite being the first time the 606th ACS has organized an exercise of this scale; it was a success. The exercise enabled the integrated team to achieve desired learning objectives, which included quantifying the ACIT setup and teardown times, gaining a deeper understating of the ACIT concept, and its relevance in various warfare phases and exploring potential future scenarios involving hybrid teams of TAC-P, command and control, and rescue.
Throughout the exercise, Martin had immense pride in how the exercise development team and participants performed.
“Overall, I’m super proud of this team,” said Martin. “They developed this entire exercise without the benefit of a formal exercise cell. The intel team ensured accurate adversary replication and effectively stressed the participants to ensure we maximized training as well as successfully tested these future operating concepts. The overall experience has developed deeper relationships with the various squadrons and will pay dividends as we continue to prepare to fight and win, whenever and wherever.”
| Date Taken: | 08.09.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 08.09.2023 05:20 |
| Story ID: | 450994 |
| Location: | IT |
| Web Views: | 307 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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