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53rd Wing’s MUSTANGS: The Future Of Agile Data Capture And ACE Capability

Thursday, February 9th, 2023

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFNS) —

The 59th Test and Evaluation Squadron hit major milestones in the development and testing of their Multi-Utilization Secure Tactical and Network Ground Station, or MUSTANGS, through its recent participation in Pacific Edge 22.

During the exercise, MUSTANGS proved its ability to process, curate, and send F-35A Lightning II data over-the-horizon to a reprogramming laboratory, all in a matter of minutes.

Part of the Crowd-Sourced Flight Data program, MUSTANGS is a mobile vehicle that can download, process, and offload important data from Quick Reaction Instrumentation Package-equipped aircraft without the need for fixed, operational test infrastructure.

“Right now, MUSTANGS are for the test community, but it has massive operational implications,” said Lt. Col. Nathan Malafa, 59th TES commander. “Our intent is to reduce risk and show the CAF (Combat Air Forces) the value of obtaining and communicating data from the operational edge.”

Before MUSTANGS, edge-collected data had to be downloaded in a secure facility, transferred to a hard drive or disk, and hand-delivered to a data customer; an outdated process that is cumbersome and too slow for the rapidly changing operational environment.

With MUSTANGS, however, the 59th TES has proven that data processing is flexible, reliable, deployable, and most importantly: immediate.

“A modern, contested environment is constantly changing,” Malafa said. “The faster and more accurate data is made available to decision makers, the more likely the warfighter will succeed over the adversary.”

The 59th TES is looking to generate another MUSTANGS milestone during the upcoming exercise, Northern Edge 23. The team plans to use F-35s participating in the exercise to find a unique waveform in the operating environment, transfer that data to MUSTANGS, curate the data, and make it available to the U.S. Reprogramming Laboratory, which is managed by the 513th Electronic Warfare Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The 513th EWS is responsible for producing Mission Data Files for all U.S. F-35s, including those flown by the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, making them the most lethal and survivable combat aircraft.

Once the 513th EWS receives the data, they analyze and action it to reprogram and updated MDF, push it to the MUSTANG, and load it back on the F-35s prior to their next flight. This process normally takes days to weeks and has never been accomplished before in a matter of hours.

“Data evolutions like MUSTANGS turn edge data into information rapidly, which is exactly the kind of innovation we need to stay ahead in the modern age of warfare,” Malafa said. “There is no doubt that those who can transmit information at the speed of relevance will win.”

By 1st Lt Lindsey Heflin, 53rd Wing Public Affairs

Posted in Air Force, Comms, Guest Post | 2 Comments »

Department of the Air Force to Conduct Hackathon

Monday, February 6th, 2023

WASHINGTON (AFNS) —

The Department of the Air Force will conduct its next “BRAVO” hackathon March 20 – 24, 2023, this time at Hurlburt Field, Florida.

Any American citizen may apply, regardless of whether they currently work for the Department of the Air Force. Applicants are required to apply online here. Applicants should apply by Feb. 15.

Attendees are not required to hold a security clearance. However, certain spaces, use cases, and datasets may require a U.S. secret security clearance or higher. Organizers may request additional information for clearances that applicants possess. Applicants may apply as an employee for the U.S. government, a U.S. government contractor, or a U.S. citizen either affiliated or unaffiliated with a company.

A hackathon is an innovation event commonly employed by technology companies in which teams develop prototypes working around the clock in response to enterprise challenges associated with data. Prior BRAVO projects have produced multiple prototypes and inventions influencing major Defense Department programs.

Federal government employees and federal contractors representing federal organizations are encouraged to share sponsoring use cases, data, or infrastructure relevant to the primary mission of the Department of Defense for use at this event by contacting SAF.CN.BRAVO@us.af.mil.

“Across the previous hackathons, we have honed methods to build and fight with classified and protected data of increasingly larger size and varied origin,” said Stuart Wagner, chief digital transformation officer for the U.S. Department of the Air Force and hackathon organizer. “Hurlburt Field will prototype joint use cases, data and software infrastructures from combatant commands and various military departments.”

In January 2022, the department ran BRAVO 0, its first department-wide classified innovation hackathon with Air Force weapons system data at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. BRAVO 1 Canary Release grew the effort when in July 2022, the department ran its second hackathon simultaneously at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia; Patrick Space Force Base, Florida; and Eglin AFB, Florida, with about 300 hackers.

BRAVO allows participants to rapidly commingle and run open-source software and data otherwise unapproved for production with classified or protected data.

“BRAVO moves from the traditional DoD development model operating at the unclassified level where we push code up to protected environments, to a permissive development model on protected data, which we refer to as ‘Dev High,’” Wagner said. “This enables developers to build weapons’ capabilities and calibrations directly with the data at lower cost compared to traditional prototyping pipelines and at a rate faster than an adversary is likely to build countering capability. This event will test how ‘Dev High’ scales to joint multi-domain use cases.”

Applicants looking to participate may do so in one of three roles. The “Hacker” role is open to all applicants and expects project builders with varying skill sets and experience, including software development, data science, machine learning, design and user interface/user design, data visualization, product management or warfighter subject matter expertise.

The “Subject Matter Expert” role is open only to government and government contractors and supports multiple teams with specific expertise or knowledge about a use case or dataset offered at the event. Any federal organization is eligible to supply a use case or dataset for consideration.

The “Supporter” role is open only to government and government contractors and provides administrative support to the event by running security, facilitating supplies delivery, organizing social events, and facilitating the delivery of science fair materials and attendee check-in.

Organizations providing infrastructure support include the “STITCHES” Warfighter Application Team, the Navy Project Overmatch program, Project Arc, Office of the Secretary of Defense Advana Edge and Air Force Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office. All five U.S. military services and U.S. Special Operations Command provide use cases and data.

The BRAVO hackathon series is named after “Project B,” a 1921 series of joint Army-Navy target exercises based on Army Brig. Gen. Billy Mitchell’s then-controversial claim that bombers sink battleships. Also styled after Project B, BRAVO hackathons are designed to allow government, academia, industry and citizens to test and validate bold ideas using real DoD data, Wagner said.

Story by Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs

Photo by TSgt Tabatha Arellano

Posted in Air Force, CEMA, Guest Post | Comments Off on Department of the Air Force to Conduct Hackathon

SecAF Visits Hurlburt Field, Observes AFSOC’s Readiness for Future Operational Environment

Tuesday, January 31st, 2023

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. —

Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall visited Hurlburt Field, Jan. 17 to view the Air Force Special Operations Command mission firsthand and meet with Airmen and leadership of the command.

During the visit Kendall flew on AFSOC aircraft and attended demonstrations illustrating AFSOC’s capabilities and adaptability to the future operational environment.

“Our Airmen are our greatest resource,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, AFSOC Commander. “We demonstrated to Secretary Kendall Air Force Special Operations Command’s pathfinding mindset and our unique capabilities. We also highlighted to our distinguished visitors that, throughout our history, we have taken whatever equipment and aircraft we had access to and adapted it to provide specialized capabilities to great success.”

AFSOC prioritizes the ability to remain relevant and ready no matter the challenges faced, he said. The visit emphasized the expertise of the Airmen within the command and their ability to meet the challenges they face today and how they plan to face future challenges.

“We pride ourselves on developing problem solvers and working within the margins to create solutions,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Allison Black, 1st Special Operations Wing commander. “We are relevant anywhere and we are finding ways to do the things that only special operations can do, in those contested environments to bring value to the joint force.”

One of those capabilities, and a main focal point of the visit, is a Mission Sustainment Team. MSTs which are made up of multi-functional Airmen who can sustain operations at austere locations away from main operating bases.

“Our MSTs greatly enable the creation of dilemmas for our adversaries and add to AFSOC’s ability to provide Special Operations capabilities anywhere around the globe,” Bauernfeind said.

Kendall met with some of AFSOC’s outstanding performers during the visit, taking the opportunity to recognize and coin them. Black praised her Air Commando team.

“[Kendall] was able to witness some of our magic,” said Black. “These quiet professionals who received this honor were a perfect representation of the command as a whole and the teams who support them.”

By SSgt Caleb Pavao

Air Force Special Operations Command

Posted in Air Force, Guest Post, SOF | Comments Off on SecAF Visits Hurlburt Field, Observes AFSOC’s Readiness for Future Operational Environment

PACAF Visits Kunsan AB, Validates Next-Gen Aircrew Protection

Saturday, January 28th, 2023

KUNSAN AIR BASE, South Korea (AFNS) —

Pacific Air Forces recently deployed a joint team of representatives and subject matter experts to Kunsan Air Base, conducting the major command’s first test and validation of counter-chemical warfare tactics, techniques and procedures, or TTP.

These tests are part of the Next Generation Aircrew Protection program, designed to ensure aircrew have proper chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear, or CBRN, protective equipment and that CBRN measures are modernized to meet emerging threats while maintaining peak human performance.

“Current aircrew and pilot CBRN protective equipment are effective but restrictive and burdensome, thus hindering combat effectiveness,” said Chief Master Sgt. Charles Hall, PACAF aircrew flight equipment major command functional manager. “The Air Force realized this in late 2021 and early 2022 and set aside about $16 million to conduct research on aircraft, ground and air testing across various platforms to collect quantitative and qualitative data.”

Armed with the data, researchers refined existing TTPs to better equip aircrews, like Kunsan AB’s, with the tools necessary to continue the ‘Fight Tonight’ mission.

“Wing commanders have an associated risk attached to nearly every decision they make,” said Senior Master Sgt. Ryan Rios, PACAF AFE command manager. “With the integrated data and refined TTPs, wing commanders now have additional information to help them make those tough decisions and continue executing their mission should a CBRN event occur.”

The TTPs are the brainchild of Col. Daniel Roberts, who now serves as 97th Medical Group commander at Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma.

“Risk is ever-present,” Roberts said. “Looking at combat operations in a chemical environment brings the question to mind; ‘How does one balance and right-size risk to improve combat effectiveness?’ Thinking this way allowed us to improve human performance and the ability of our ground crews to turn aircraft in an effective manner so our combat forces are ready when called upon.”

The program’s tests and validations affected several base agencies to include the 35th and 80th Fighter Squadrons, 8th Operations Support Squadron AFE, 8th Civil Engineer Squadron emergency management, 8th Maintenance Group and the 8th Medical Group bioenvironmental engineering flight.

Participating Airmen tested the updated CBRN TTPs safely and efficiently by stepping, launching and recovering a flying mission in a simulated chemical filled environment.

The PACAF team is scheduled to validate every installation within the MAJCOM and ultimately will establish standardized PACAF-wide counter-chemical warfare aircrew protection measures. Efforts like this help ensure Kunsan AB maintains maximum combat readiness capabilities to support a free and open Indo-Pacific.

By SSgt Isaiah J. Soliz, 8th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

Posted in Air Force, CBRNE, Guest Post | Comments Off on PACAF Visits Kunsan AB, Validates Next-Gen Aircrew Protection

Det 1, 24th SOW Trains In Alaska

Wednesday, January 25th, 2023

24th Special Operations Wing D-Cell, Pioneers of the ACE Concept, Hone Arctic Skills in Alaska

Air Force Special Tactics Airmen with the 24SOW, Detachment 1, aka “D-Cell”, provided security while an Alaska Army National Guard HH-60M Black Hawk landed at Camp Mad Bull during CASEVAC training.

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska – Agile Combat Employment is one of the most talked-about concepts in the Air Force. The ability to rapidly deploy and establish forward operating locations, manned by multi-capable Airmen, is the way the Air Force is crafting the future of warfare.

The Airmen of the 24th Special Operations Wing, Detachment 1, also known as Deployment Cell or “D-Cell,” have been doing just this for over 60 years.

The unit, based out of MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, consists of 54 members across 15 career fields, forming four agile teams. These teams of multi-capable Airmen are trained in 49 cross-functional tasks including Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape training, advanced shooting, and advanced combat casualty care.

The primary role of D-Cell is to “bare base,” which is to rapidly turn undeveloped locations into fully functional bases.

“The unique thing about us is that we have small teams that can go anywhere,” said Master Sgt. Nathan Johnson, a logistics superintendent and D-Cell Bravo Flight lead. “And because we can do other jobs, we can set up a bare base extremely fast, extremely efficiently.”

Due to working in such light and agile teams, being multi-capable Airmen is essential for mission success.

“Most of our Airmen are at – and I can say this comfortably – at probably a three-level in each other’s career fields, and some even a five-level,” said Master Sgt. Sammy Bridges, security forces superintendent and D-Cell Delta Flight lead.

“If I fall out, the next guy on my team, even though he might be a power [production] guy working on a generator, or he might be a services guy, guess what? He can still upload an aircraft,” added Staff Sgt. Jonathan Webb, an air transportation craftsman. “That [multi-capable Airman] concept is more than what you think it is.”

With their visibilities shifting towards future areas of operation, the unit visited Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER), Alaska, Jan. 6 through 10, 2023, to test their operating capabilities in extreme-cold weather environments.

“We’re out here to see if we can validate the Arctic side of what we have to do,” explained Johnson. “We’ve been in a certain part of the world for a long time, and mindsets are changing over where we could go. This is so we can test what we’ve been doing since the ’60s in a cold environment.”

The team spent their time in Alaska operating out of Camp Mad Bull, a training area on JBER designed to provide realistic austere operating conditions to test unit capabilities.

“You’re used to building and being at different locations for the past 20 years, where the whole [Department of Defense] has been, right?” said Johnson. “So now you come up here in a different environment, and you have to test yourself in that sense it’s zero degrees here versus where you’re used to building in 90 degrees [weather].”

Over the week, D-Cell worked on troop movement in extreme cold and deep snow, tent construction, and night operations, all of which culminated into a simulated combat scenario.

The Airmen also spent two days working with the Alaska National Guard’s 2nd Battalion, 211th Aviation Regiment. One day was spent in a classroom with the regiment’s medevac unit, where they learned cold-weather specific tactical combat casualty care. The aviators also supported the training’s final combat scenario, providing medevacs to the simulated combat’s casualties.

“We’ve done medical training, [tactical combat casualty care] and things of that nature… now we’re getting knowledge from the Soldiers up here, who do things in the mountains and Arctic environment,” said Webb. “Pulling that knowledge of how you treat hypothermia, how you treat frostbite …. versus what we dealt with the past 20 years in a different [area of responsibility].”

“It wasn’t even necessarily the Arctic cold weather training, but it was the questions, the back-and-forth of it,” he continued. “You can read a book on it all day long, but if you’re talking to the author, you’ll get those little details. It’s good to have that insight.”

After the training wrapped up, the team prepared to leave the sub-zero temperatures of Alaska and return to the warm beaches of Florida – bringing back a new set of skills and validated capabilities.

“As leads, not only were we thinking about the actual build and the project,” said Johnson. “From my perspective, it’s about the personalities and the camaraderie. When you put people in an austere location in a stressful situation, whether it be from external weather or threats, how can those people come together and work as a team and react? It’s been an awesome experience together.”

By Senior Airman Patrick Sullivan, 673d ABW/PA

Posted in Air Force, Guest Post, SOF | 8 Comments »

WEPTAC 2023: Solving Enterprise-Level Challenges

Monday, January 23rd, 2023

NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. (AFNS) —

U.S. and international combat air forces senior leaders participated in the Weapons and Tactics Conference and C2 Summit at Nellis Air Force Base, Jan. 2-13.

WEPTAC is Air Combat Command’s annual pinnacle of tactics and warfare with a charge to accelerate the modernization and development of solutions for the joint employment of forces across the range of Air Force core warfighting functions.

“There is a common saying of ‘As goes Nellis, so goes the Air Force,” said Maj. Gen. David Lyons, ACC director of operations, in a speech to an audience of nearly 1,400 U.S. and allied service members. “The primary focus of WEPTAC is the National Defense Strategy and therefore the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. We are here at the nexus of airpower to advise and shape our nation’s warfighting prowess.”

Gen. Ken Wilsbach, Pacific Air Forces commander, gave the keynote address to this year’s summit and WEPTAC attendees, emphasizing a need for constant forward motion with innovation as a requirement for mission success.

“Innovation will be the key to ultimately winning the next fight,” Wilsbach said. “Improvements in innovation talked about at previous years’ WEPTACs can be seen in PACAF today.”

Lyons added that while focus on emerging technologies and processes like the Advanced Battle Management System are critical to the Air Force maintaining competitive advantage in the Indo-Pacific, effective employment of warfighting constants like mobility and logistics capabilities also remain vital to success in conflict in the region.

“Do not wish away logistics. There is no room for error when we look at the tyranny of distance in the Pacific,” Lyons said. “You cannot overlook tanker plans, logistics and sustainment, weapons, communications and mission-type orders. Think about and talk about these things, including swap-out plans, rejoin plans from disparate locations, and comm-out mission planning – there is nothing we can’t tackle when we put our minds to it.”

Along with the tyranny of distance in the Pacific, fiscal and political constraints limit the establishment of new enduring air bases. To address these challenges, the Air Force introduced Agile Combat Employment, or ACE: a proactive and reactive operational scheme of maneuver executed within threat timelines to increase survivability while generating air-combat power.

“ACE will expand the envelope in the next fight; it will be a highly contested environment,” Wilsbach said. “ACE needs to be exercised in every squadron, every day.”

The National Defense Strategy states that to enable our military advantage in the air domain for the long term. We must shift away from legacy platforms and weapons systems that are decreasing in relevance today and will be irrelevant in the future.

Addressing the Air and Space Force senior leaders in the audience, Lyons highlighted the multi-disciplinary specialists conducting WEPTAC’s various working groups.

“We have provided you experts of multiple disciplines to inform your solutions and outputs across multiple programs and resources to provide tangible, feasible decisions to support our conclusions,” he noted.

WEPTAC’s scope and purpose brings the future faster and accelerates change in the United States Air Force. In its 23rd year, WEPTAC continues to provide feedback from warfighters directly to general officers and decision-makers that lead to substantive enhancements and improvements across the Joint Force, both from tactics development and science and technology advancement recommendations.

Wilsbach concluded his speech with a straightforward charge, “It’s not going to be easy, but we must put in the work. No shortcuts.”

Story by Michael J. Hasenauer, Nellis Air Force Base Public Affairs

Photo by Airman 1st Class Josey Blades

Posted in Air Force, Guest Post, Profession of Arms | Comments Off on WEPTAC 2023: Solving Enterprise-Level Challenges

Multi-Capable Airmen Lead the Way for 443rd AES

Saturday, January 21st, 2023

AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFNS) —

A team of Multi-Capable Airmen at Al Asad Air Base stepped out of their traditional responsibilities to become vital force multipliers for joint and coalition partners across the installation.

Embracing MCA, a defender and a client systems technician from the 443rd Air Expeditionary Squadron became skilled in communication capabilities and setting up technical communication equipment, taking it upon themselves to become proficient in skills they traditionally wouldn’t have been required to learn.

This drive started from the moment they arrived. By capitalizing on an opportunity to innovate and increase efficient and effective communication capabilities for the Airmen around him, Senior Airman Byron McNeill Jr., 443rd AES supply and security forces fireteam lead, decided to face the challenge head-on.

McNeill crafted a plan alongside Staff Sgt. Daniel Meeks, 443rd AES client systems technician, within a few days of arriving on the installation.

“I knew that we had a frequency that was supposed to work but didn’t, and I knew that we should be getting further range with our radios than what they were getting,” McNeill said. “My leadership gave me the chance, and I just took the opportunity and ran with it. Then, it was just collaborating with everyone around me and finding out trial and errors with the radios.”

A defender coming to the 443rd AES with prior radio operation experience, McNeill’s collaboration with Meeks has paid dividends for the installation.

“We call each other almost every day asking each other about things,” Meeks said. “He’s strong-willed with what he wants done and he gets it done. It’s been easygoing with him. We’ve improved our communication capabilities already in just our first month of being here.”

Feeding off each other’s skill sets, they have raised three communication antennas and boosted long-range communications in multiple mine-resistant ambush protected all-terrain vehicles. They assisted and reprogrammed Norwegian Armed Forces radios and were able to get communication capabilities immediately restored. McNeill and Meeks have also held classes with other 443rd AES defenders, giving them the skills to troubleshoot their communication equipment and change their radio frequencies to respond to any situation.

Ensuring communication capabilities are effective and efficient for others, while teaching the next Multi-Capable Airman, is what continues to fuel both.

“Communication is the biggest thing in any scenario,” McNeill said. “Being able to give the warfighter the ability to talk to one another and to talk to higher-ups, brings it all together. There are no mistakes when good communication is in play.”

By Staff Sergeant Dalton Williams, 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

Posted in Air Force, Guest Post | 1 Comment »

Special Tactics, AMC Airmen Spearhead Agile Combat Employment Concepts During Mission Generation Exercise

Thursday, January 12th, 2023

POPE FIELD, N.C. —

Special Tactics Airmen assigned to the 24th Special Operations Wing participated in a mission generation exercise on Jan. 5, 2023, alongside Air Mobility Command aircrews.

The 437th and 315th Airlift Wings launched 24 C-17 Globemaster IIIs from Joint Base Charleston to conduct the exercise and integrate with Air Force, Army, and Marine forces across five operating locations.

Several C-17s landed at Pope Army Airfield after the initial launch to establish a tactical operations center and conduct an airfield seizure with multiple special tactics teams.

“This exercise is about readiness and lethality,” said Maj. Zachary Barry, C-17 pilot and lead planner for the exercise. “We wanted to get as many aircraft as possible off the deck in a 48-hour timespan, to tell pacing threats that we can go anywhere, anytime.”

The airfield seizure took place on Fort Bragg’s Holland Landing Zone. There, Special Tactics teams secured the perimeter, established the airfield, and executed a follow-on clearance of nearby outposts.

Working alongside AMC aircrews allows Special Tactics teams to plan for operations in joint environments to maximize lethality as an air and joint force.

“Exercises like these require detailed planning but pay dividends when complete,” said a 24th Special Operations Wing Special Tactics officer. “Agile combat employment is paramount to our success as an Air Force, and incorporating Special Tactics teams into exercises like this benefits everyone involved.”

Combining these skillsets with mobility air forces like those from the 437th AW demonstrates the need to get ahead of the nation’s pacing challenges. Mission generation takes competencies from across the U.S. Air Force and connects them with capabilities from the joint force to maneuver past tomorrow’s challenges and enhance combat readiness.

By 1st Lt Victor A. Reyes, 24 SOW Public Affairs

Posted in AFSW, Air Force, Guest Post, SOF | 2 Comments »