JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. (AFNS) —

The Washington Air National Guard’s 225th Air Defense Squadron hosted its second Joint Kill Chain Exercise for 14 U.S. Army and two 225th ADS enlisted weapons directors Sept. 24-27 at the Western Air Defense Sector on Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

The JKCE is the final event at the end of a three-week Air Defense Artillery Fire Control Officers course. The academic portion of the course was hosted by the 1-51 Air Defense Artillery Battalion on JB Lewis-McChord from Sept 9-23.

The course is designed to instill ADAFCOs with the necessary skills to integrate Army Air and Missile Defense engagement operations at the appropriate controlling authority,” explained U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Jesus Arellano. “All operations are tied into the Joint Integrated Air and Missile Defense System to destroy, nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air breathing and missile threats against friendly forces, as well as to reduce the potential for fratricide.”

ADAFCO course students received graduate level training in mission analysis, advanced air battle management/command and control, and joint air and missile defense operations. According to Arellano, the demanding curriculum challenges students’ competencies using hands-on training, examinations, and practical exercises. Students are required to develop and present a threat-specific mission briefing to a board of cadre and inter-service personnel.

Washington Air National Guardsmen Master Sgt. Andrew Snyder and Tech. Sgt. Jordan Schaefer, weapons directors from the 225th ADS, had the unique privilege of going through the course and are now the only two U.S. Air Force enlisted certified ADAFCOs. Normally the course is reserved for U.S. Army warrant officers and company grade officers.

According to Snyder, “we train to integrate joint fires into the battlespace and air domain in large areas of operation. The course provided me with in-depth knowledge about the PATRIOT weapons system and IADS integration across the joint service, which will have a direct impact on the homeland defense mission [Operation Noble Eagle] at WADS.”

WADS was chosen as the location to support the JKCE due to its robust capability to provide live, virtual and constructed simulation execution. Arellano explained that “the WADS team can connect to the Distributed Training Operations Center which enables state of the art simulation feed and hosts the PATRIOT tactical directors for a full integration of systems and operations. The WADS facility also provided a workspace and briefing areas to conduct joint planning training between the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army and we look forward to a continued effort to joint training.”

By Kimberly D. Burke, Western Air Defense Sector Public Affairs

MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. —  

Air Force officials hosted a ceremony at Maxwell AFB, Oct. 8, 2024, highlighting the activation of the Air Force Accessions Center (Provisional) at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, and the implementation of a broader strategy to improve how the Air Force inspires, engages, recruits and trains the next generation of Total Force Airmen and Guardians needed to compete, deter, and win in today’s global landscape.

Air University’s Jeanne M. Holm Center for Officer Accessions and Citizen Development at Maxwell AFB merged with JBSA-Randolph’s Air Force Recruiting Service to form the newly established AFAC (P), which is expected to reach Full Operating Capability by Oct. 1, 2025.

“Combining recruiting and specific training missions enables Air Education and Training Command to optimize resources and weight of effort across the enterprise ensuring agility, adaptability, and effectiveness to meet Department of the Air Force, and by extension, combatant command requirements,” stated Brig. Gen. Christopher Amrhein, AFAC (P) commander. “Our goal is to be able to inspire, recruit, train and develop the right talent, whether Airman or Guardian, into the right job at the right time and while being agile enough to adjust while in execution.”

Recruiting across the Department of Defense has become increasingly challenging due to a widening unfamiliarity gap between the civilian sector and the military.

While the DAF exceeded its recruiting goals for this year, this gap has made the mission of attracting high-quality recruits more difficult.

This gap has made the mission of attracting high-quality recruits more difficult. However, the Air Force is committed to communicating that service in the Air Force or Space Force offers much more than employment it provides profound opportunities, unparallel community, and sense of purpose. The Accessions Center will now be able to garner that talent as well as train and develop the ROTC, JROTC, OTS, and Warrant Officer pipelines under one umbrella.

To learn more about the Air Force and Space Force and discover full and part-time opportunities, visit our website www.AirForce.com of www.SpaceForce.com. To speak with a recruiter near you, click here.

By Joe Gangemi, HQ Air Force Recruiting Service

MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. —  

The 91st Missile Wing successfully performed its biennial Simulated Electronic Launch Minuteman (SELM) test, the first phase of testing for the Minuteman III, at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, on September 17th and 18th, 2024.

“This year’s SELM, named OPERATION GIANT PACE 24-2M, was conducted to evaluate the readiness and reliability of the MMIII ICBM system,” said 1st Lt. Ivan Cruz, 91MW Maintenance Group executive officer. “Although operational test launches are executed frequently at Vandenberg Space Force Base, SELM allows the Air Force to test critical processes in a deployed environment without firing the missile.”

This evaluation is an end-to-end test that is used to verify the reliability of the MMIII ICBM system’s ability to launch if given the command from a Launch Facility (LF), a Launch Control Center (LCC), or an Airborne Launch Control System (ALCS).

“This year we tested four LFs and two LCCs, with assistance from the 625th Strategic Operations Squadron, to test a new flight track of the E-6B Mercury,” said Cruz.

Before the test launch order can be given, more than 1,500 hours are committed to ensure all safety measures are met. For the SELM test, the maintenance crews and operators replaced the operational components with test components and isolated the LFs from the rest of the operational squadron to form a test squadron. This allows the test to be conducted safely without affecting an operational missile site while the testing missile crew members use real commands.

“Due to the ever-growing age of our weapon system, showing that it can complete its mission when asked is important for us in gathering analytical data, and show we are capable of assuring our allies and deterring our adversaries,” said 1st Lt. Alex Mathews, 740th Missile Squadron missileer.

Once the preparation phase was concluded, the SELM test began. The teams tested their ability as combat crews to launch from not only the LCC but from an ALCS aboard a Navy E-6B Mercury aircraft, which is capable of remotely launching the fleet of MMIII ICBMs.

Many agencies are involved in safety, like the missile maintenance team and electronic mechanical team, who ensure the numerous safety procedures are complete prior to testing. The 91MW’s crisis action team then confirms that all sites are in a safe configuration before the simulated launch, Cruz said.

When all of these tasks have been completed a last-look inspection is done by SELM Quality Assurance personnel to verify the proper configuration of the test LF and LCCs.

After the safety of each site was confirmed, test commands were sent from isolated test LCCs and the airborne ALCS. Missile commands were transmitted to the isolated SELM test squadron to evaluate everything from routine activities all the way up to the first stage ignition of the MMIII.

“The credibility of the 91st MW lies in our Airmen and the weapon system we maintain and operate. We train daily for our mission, and SELM allows us to demonstrate the standard of upkeep provided by our maintainers, and the expertise of missileers tasked with executing our mission,” said Mathews.

The most important aspect of any weapon system is to demonstrate its reliability through extensive scheduled and routine testing. With the SELM test complete the second and final phase of testing can be completed. This second phase of testing will see a live launch of unarmed MMIII at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. This rigorous testing allows the 91MW, U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force to provide a demonstration of combat capability without compromising safety.

By Senior Airman Alexander Nottingham, 5th Bomb Wing Public Affairs