Photo By Staff Sgt. Ashley Mikaio | A U.S. Air Force avionics technician assigned to the 36th Fighter Generation Squadron...... read more read more
Subscribe
Deploying a fleet of aircraft, equipment, and personnel for a relocated mission requires an elite team of planners.
The 51st Fighter Wing Plans and Programs office, or XP, coordinated the 36th Fighter Squadron’s agile combat employment (ACE) movement to Kunsan Air Base during Beverly Herd 25-2 at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea, Jan 26 - 31, 2025.
Beverly Herd is one of several exercises the 51st FW’s hosts regularly to enhance the wing’s ability to survive and operate in a contested environment, while simultaneously supporting core mission essential tasks in another location.
Typically, an XP office prepares multiple strategic operational plans for a single base, allowing immediate response to real world contingency military operations. Here at Osan, XP takes this a step further by coordinating inbound and outbound U.S. assets throughout the Korean peninsula, which they put into action during BH 25-2.
“Within three weeks we executed an ACE movement to Kunsan AB,” explained U.S. Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Trey Spencer, 51st FW XP Senior Enlisted Leader. “We planned the movements, verified the logistics, and saw to the execution despite the unexpected heavy snowfall, which challenged us but didn’t stop us.”
The XP team serves as the official contingency operation response lead for all assets assigned to the wing. Their goal is to develop plans that enable sustainable wing policies and strategies that preserve and help generate combat airpower.
“Our three main focuses are on ACE movements, mission assurance, and of course, operational security,” stated U.S. Air Force Capt. Terrell Willis, 51st FW XP Mission Assurance Officer. “But, we can’t do it alone. We liaise with other organizations across the installation to codify the necessities of a contingency operation execution.”
A demanding job that matches the complexity of the mission, with equal strength—especially when deploying assets for ACE.
“When we tell a unit what our upcoming goal is and they share their expert information, it’s typically from an isolated perspective,” said Spencer. “So, the challenge for us at XP is to make sure all the information collected from the [maintenance group], [logistics readiness squadron], [force support squadron], etc. fits together within a single timeline for an entire ACE movement.”
For Osan’s XP, ACE operations don’t stop at local exercises with U.S. assets.
“We’re already working with joint and combined organizations to practice dispersing our assets to ROK bases during future exercises,” added Willis.
Combat readiness exercises like Beverly Herd are deeply ingrained into the fabric that is the 51st FW and the ‘Fight Tonight’ ethos.
Reflecting on the critical role of XP in a potential real-world scenario, U.S. Air Force Capt. J.P. Fernandez, 51st FW XP Plans & Programs Officer, emphasized the importance of their mission.
“At the end of the day, should a real world attack happen, XP will be here to create targeting problems for the adversary while preserving combat airpower.”
| Date Taken: | 02.25.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 02.24.2025 18:10 |
| Story ID: | 491416 |
| Location: | OSAN AIR BASE, GYEONGGIDO [KYONGGI-DO], KR |
| Web Views: | 52 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 51st FW Plans & Programs enhances peninsula wide ACE movements, by SSgt Kahdija Slaughter, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
