Photo By Capt. Christian Little | A U.S. Air Force Airmen from the 822d Base Defense Squadron fires a during a simulated...... read more read more
The U.S. Air Force’s 822d Base Defense Squadron exercised their ability to infiltrate, clear and defend an airfield Aug. 9-14, 2024, during exercise Scorpion Fury at Camp Blanding, Florida.
The five-day continuous exercise consisted of airborne and air assault insertion; airfield clearing; tactical vehicle quick response forces; small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) employment and defense; reconnaissance and surveillance; and maneuvers to detect, deter and defeat threats in the security area to enable unimpeded simulated air operations from the austere airfield.
Capturing, securing and preparing these airfields for use is essential to increasing the flexibility of air operations in a theater of war enabling more options for aircraft to refuel and reload closer to the forward edge.
“Training is simply an opportunity to become more lethal, competent and confident in what you bring to the fight,” said Maj. Keven Abraham, 822d BDS commander. “The more you push yourself in training, the easier it will be for you to act when you’re called to deploy and defend.”
Throughout the exercise, 105 friendly defender forces waged simulated war against 90 highly motivated opposing forces composed of 820th Base Defense Group members as well as Army 20th Special Forces Group Operational Detachment Alpha and Forward Support Corps soldiers. The 820th BDG aims to expand their tactical capabilities and expertise by introducing joint partner battlefield experts to evaluate and stress their airbase defenses.
“Working with unconventional teams and forces that operate in a completely different way than us takes the predictability out of typical actions on the objective. It forces us to think of conducting operations in multiple warfare domains and focus specifically inside the adversary’s decision-making cycle to gain time and space,” Abraham explained.
The opposing force members tested defenses with probing attacks, sUAS reconnaissance and strikes, and coordinated airfield assaults conducted by battlefield experts armed with heavy weapons.
“Being combat proficient requires a level of mastery that is only achieved through repetition,” Abraham said. “The BDG is continuing to push beyond what is expected and is paving the way for the Security Forces Enterprise to operate in bare-base conditions and take control of battle space.”
The 822d BDS employed tactical vehicles to maneuver and gain battlespace dominance, reconnaissance and surveillance teams, sUAS reconnaissance, explosive ordinance disposal, and concealment equipment to protect critical personnel and equipment and project defensive power into the surrounding area to detect and defeat threats to air operations. These capabilities empowered the 822d BDS to defeat a wider variety of threats to their airfield, which would provide airpower projection capabilities for combatant commanders during wartime.
“It’s important to integrate a variety of challenges into these exercises, because as we go forward and start moving into new conflicts, threats are going to look different than they have in the past. It’s for that reason, we are testing many different facets of enemy tactics and technologies to better prepare our Airman for the future fight,” said Tech. Sgt. Aaron Kostiuk, 820th Base Defense Group Noncommissioned Officer in Charge of Standards & Evaluations.
| Date Taken: | 11.14.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 11.14.2024 12:45 |
| Story ID: | 485286 |
| Location: | CAMP BLANDING, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 274 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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