Subscribe
Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base, Westhampton Beach, N.Y. -- The New York Air National Guard’s 106th Force Support Squadron led an Air Guard wide Force Support Squadron deployment exercise, Montauk Lightning, throughout various locations in Suffolk County, N.Y., August 7 to 9, 2024.
“Exercise Montauk Lighting focuses on command and control, force beddown, and force accountability,” said Capt. Douglas Duncan, 106th Force Support Squadron commander and exercise architect.
Montauk Lightning was designed to simulate a deployment and engagement with a fictional near-peer adversary that invaded an allied nation, said Chief Master Sgt. Neil Allison, 106th Force Support Squadron senior enlisted leader.
According to Duncan, multiple Force Support Squadrons from across the United States participated in the event.
During the exercise, the Airmen were assigned to one of two fictional Expeditionary Force Support Squadrons. Simulating the geographical separation, the Airmen were stationed throughout different areas at the 106th Rescue Wing in Westhampton Beach, N.Y., and at Suffolk County Fire Rescue in Yaphank, N.Y.
The Airmen were expected to feed the force, lodge the force, and provide accountability to their combatant commanders, said Duncan.
Although it was a tabletop exercise, the taskings and exercise injects simulated the complexities of deployment operations, explained Allison.
“We wanted to exercise the ability for the Force Support Squadron to rapidly deploy in a hub and spoke style deployment environment against a near-peer or peer adversary in a way that’s never been done before,” said Allison. “Warfare in the 21st century, warfare going forward is going to be a very agile, slimmed down force and mobile.”
Montauk Lightning participant Maj. Heather Bashor, 142nd Fighter Wing Force Support Squadron commander, Oregon Air National Guard, shared insights on sustainment challenges during deployments.
“The big take away I’ve had so far as the Force Support Squadron commander is understanding the sustainment side of how we support a deployment, especially establishing a base,” said Bashor. “Making sure people have lodging and food alone is a lot, and a lot of equipment.”
In addition to the geographical separation, the exercise removed cellular communications forcing the Airmen to rely on comms they would use in a contested environment, said Allison.
One of the most important roles of the Force Support Squadron is providing real-time accountability updates to Combatant Commanders, Duncan explained. Commanders can’t make decisions without knowing what their accountability is and knowing how many personnel they have at any one time, he continued.
“There’s not a lot of opportunity for us to train and get after our core wartime tasking,” said Duncan. “I thought ‘Hey, let’s put something together and let’s see what happens,’ and this has grown to something I could never have anticipated.”
The lack of training opportunities is due to the real-world demand of the Force Support Squadron, explained Melanie Kuklis, 148th Force Support Squadron services superintendent, Minnesota Air National Guard.
“The Force Support Squadron is often very undermanned and over tasked, said Kuklis. “There isn’t time over drill weekend during full-time operations for everyone to get this valuable training, which is necessary for all of the different scenarios that we may encounter especially in today’s changing force.”
Duncan outlined plans for expanding Montauk Lightning next year.
The goal for next year is to expand Montauk Lightning with more infrastructure and planning, said Duncan. We plan on building on the success of this year’s events to have it be more challenging while accommodating more units.
The 106th Rescue Wing, based at F.S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base in Westhampton Beach, N.Y., operates and maintains the HC-130J Combat King II search and rescue aircraft, the HH-60G Pave Hawk and HH-60W Jolly Green II rescue helicopters. The 106th Rescue Wing is home to a special warfare squadron with pararescuemen and combat rescue officers, specializing in rescue and recovery, and deploys for domestic and overseas operations.
| Date Taken: | 08.09.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.21.2024 14:52 |
| Story ID: | 483282 |
| Location: | WESTHAMPTON BEACH, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 8 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 106th Rescue Wing Leads Force Support Squadron Exercise Montauk Lightning, Simulated Deployment, by TSgt Daniel Farrell, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
