Photo By Staff Sgt. Stefan Alvarez | Mr. Kendall Mathurin, right, L3Harris sales engineer, trains members of the 325th...... read more read more
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TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The 325th Fighter Wing completed its most recent Agile Combat Employment exercise, Crown Royal 24-5, at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, July 15-19, 2024, testing personnel and cargo deployment functions as well as generating combat ready aircraft.
As the Air Force continues to implement the Air Force Force Generation deployment model, which is designed to improve Air Force readiness and better communicate the capabilities the service can provide to the Joint Force, conducting exercises such as Crown Royal is crucial for validating the combat readiness of a wing’s Airmen and assets.
“The goal of CR 24-5 is to provide leadership with an assessment of the 325 FW’s readiness to project combat power when called upon,” said Tech. Sgt. Andrew Hirschberg, 325th FW Inspector General wing inspections team member. “It’s important to identify areas that need improvement and those that are working well to assist commanders in directing resources and what we need to improve through training.”
For the Checkertails, this level of readiness encompasses all areas of the wing’s mission, including the F-35A Lightning II aircraft and all the personnel and equipment required to complete the mission wherever they go.
“The 95th Fighter Squadron’s goal is to execute the Agile Combat Employment plans in an unfamiliar environment,” said Capt. Heath Williams, 95th FS F-35A instructor pilot. “This means pilots and support personnel must mission plan and execute sorties outside the local area. For this exercise, we sent a team with four aircraft to Dannelly Field, Alabama, giving them the challenge of doing their jobs in a place that they don’t know and overcome any complacency that’s been built up.”
Split into two phases, exercise CR 24-5’s first phase is the generation phase. This involves deployment planning and generating the Airmen and equipment needed for the mission. Once phase one is accomplished, the exercise rolls right into phase two, the employment phase. The employment phase has exercise participants simulate operating in a deployed or austere environment while continuing to support the mission.
“The wing demonstrated its capability to deploy combat forces within the ACE scheme of maneuver,” said Hirschberg. “This focuses on a small, highly-trained and mobile team designed to push the fight forward. The Wing Inspection Team evaluated personnel and cargo deployment functions, aircraft generation, regeneration and deployment to unfamiliar airfields. Challenges remain with the on-going rebuild of the installation and arrival of additional aircraft and personnel, but progress is evident everywhere you look.”
As the 325th FW continues to train and fulfill its role as a combat-ready F-35A fighter wing, readiness is a mindset that is being encouraged across the board for every Airman, new and experienced, especially the pilots.
“As a fighter squadron, we’re expected to be ready to deploy anywhere in the world, in a very short amount of time,” said Williams. “We made our pilots mission plan and execute as a single ship in order for the younger pilots to understand what it takes to lead. If we train to plan effectively and execute short-notice deployment taskers, then it will make deploying an entire unit that much easier, thus, allowing us to take our unmatched tactics to the adversary even faster.”
| Date Taken: | 07.23.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 07.23.2024 17:12 |
| Story ID: | 476855 |
| Location: | TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 63 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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