Photo By Senior Airman Xaviera Stevens | U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Kalen Stoddard, deputy commander, Col. Timothy Guy, commander,...... read more read more
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SAVANNAH, Ga. (January 31, 2025) – On a base, 20 minutes away from Sentry Savannah 25-1's exercise location, hidden in the woods, were spreads of wire, cables, tactical vehicles, and large metal boxes house mobile operation centers. A large radar slowly spins atop a truck as Airmen buzzed around different workstations.
Walking across the squadron’s mobile tactical setup, U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Chance Gilliam, cyber defense operator, 128th Air Control Squadron (ACS), Wisconsin Air National Guard, said they convoyed from Wisconsin to Savannah bringing all of their equipment on the back of tactical vehicles. Air control operation centers were then set up in two austere locations within 36 hours.
U.S. Airmen with the 128th ACS, exercised their tactical communication skills during Sentry Savannah 25-1, National Guard Bureau’s premier fourth and fifth-generation fighter counter-air exercise, conducting joint air operations through real-time radar surveillance, identification, battle management, and theater communications while operating out of mobile tactical operations centers at Hunter Army Airfield, located in Savannah, Georgia, Jan. 21-31, 2025.
The operations work center walls were lined with computers and Airmen sat at each workstation with headphones on and tablets in-hand ready to control the nearly 300 nautical mile military airspace located off the south Atlantic Coast. U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Tyler Allard, a mission system operator, assigned to the 128th ACS, said that each Airman was assigned a list of pilots to control from either the friendly (blue air) or the adversarial teams (red air).
“[The pilots] get passed off to our blue and red controllers based on their mission that day,” Allard said. “Then our red and blue controllers communicate with the aircraft in the sky, giving them what's called a picture call, letting them know how many groups of aircraft, how many contacts are in those groups, how far away they are and then, based on those pictures, the fighters will decide their tactics.”
Allard stated that during the exercise they provide tactical control for F-22 Raptor, F-35 Lightning II, F-16 Fighting Falcon, and T-38 Talon pilots, simulating an air war against peer adversaries. He said the T-38s typically fly as the adversaries and keep pilots current on flying against near-peer threats, offering excellent training.
“I had the opportunity to sit in on a mission the other day with our operators, and it was super cool to be able to see the equipment that I directly work with, in-action and see the impact it has,” said U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Maggie Lawrynk, cyber defense operator, 128th ACS.
Lawrynk said the experience provided valuable training, including full setup and tear-down of mobile operations centers—skills not typically covered during routine training at their home station at Volk Field, Wisconsin. She noted that unexpected challenges arose, requiring problem-solving and adaptability, especially without access to all their home base equipment.
“[Sentry Savannah 25-1] is a great training opportunity,” said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Teng Moua, radio frequency transmission systems specialist, 128th ACS. “We can bring our own equipment out and test our capabilities in a whole different environment.”
Allard said the exercise proves their ability to rapidly deploy under the Agile Combat Employment model, loading equipment onto ships, planes, or tactical vehicles as needed. He noted that they have the manpower and the units to set up and operate a proper air control base that can assist pilots out in the field.
“We can go anywhere in the world and control missions,” said Allard.
| Date Taken: | 01.31.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 02.21.2025 09:42 |
| Story ID: | 489868 |
| Location: | SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 154 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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