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Special Warfare Training Wing Strengthens Inclusion

Friday, September 16th, 2022

Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas. —

Those who go to war together must live and train together, according to the philosophy behind the Air Force’s Special Warfare Training Wing here, which prepares operational Airmen in seven career specialties.

Modified facilities were built at the SWTW to ensure appropriate levels of privacy for mixed-sex cohorts of trainees at the Special Warfare Candidate Course, the course of initial entry for those who want to become Air Force Special Warfare Airmen.

These mixed-sex facilities include open-bay dormitories where male and female trainees bunk together, equipped with specially designed mixed-sex locker areas to incorporate individual shower rooms and restrooms with privacy for each trainee.

“Fostering an environment of inclusion is an imperative for the SWTW,” said Col. Nathan Colunga, SWTW commander. “The mixed-sex facilities built at our candidate course, where we first welcome Special Warfare Airmen, are only the beginning for the SWTW. The larger strategy is to build mixed-sex facilities throughout the entirety of the SWTW footprint, across the nation where every trainee, regardless of gender, is afforded the same level of privacy.”

In 2015, the U.S. Air Force began the process of integrating women into the AFSPECWAR career fields previously closed to them. The construction of the mixed sex facilities marks a positive step in the wing’s progress.

For Air Education and Training Command and 2nd Air Force, the process of broadening the pool of recruits for instructors and trainees in the Air Force’s technical-training pipelines is a top priority.

“We continuously struggle to recruit enough people who have the potential to meet our standards in Air Force Special Warfare,” said Maj. Gen. Michele Edmondson, 2nd Air Force commander, who oversees basic military training and the majority of non-flying technical training for AETC.

“I want to leave no stone unturned,” she said. “We need to be more deliberate about bringing in anyone who has the propensity to serve in these career fields and meets the standards it takes to graduate.”

The SWTW has graduated five female AFSPECWAR Airmen to date and continues to see the benefits of the mixed-sex integration efforts. There are currently two female trainees in the SWTW pipelines and continued efforts to fully integrate facilities for all sexes will ensure further diversity, inclusion and integration.

One of those graduates is Capt. Lauren Laffosse, a tactical air control party officer who is currently the chief of force integration at 2nd Air Force.

“My focus is not just on women in the special warfare pipelines,” said Laffosse. “I look at all under-represented groups and my job is to help remove barriers and ensure equitable processes across all career fields trained in 2nd Air Force.”

Laffosse participates first-hand in training courses to discover ways to make instructor and training opportunities available to a wider range of potential recruits.

“I go into training environments alongside students to observe and experience things personally,” she said. “My experience as a TACP enables me to understand the operational and training requirements so that we’re not changing the standards.”

One example Laffosse cited was a lack of female restrooms or changing areas in facilities where AFSPECWAR candidates train, something the SWTW is working to rectify.

“We need to negate the unintentional barriers that prevent people from being on the team,” said Edmondson. “I believe it is a national imperative that we look at the future fight and ensure we have the right operators available to be able to assemble the proper team required to meet an evolving mission set that looks different in the future than it has in the past.

“If we don’t appeal to all demographics to join these career-fields, we are missing a huge portion of the available talent our nation has to offer,” she said. “We need to entice anyone who can meet the community’s standards.”

For the SWTW, the future of training will be completely mixed-sex integrated.

The SWTW aquatics training center set for completion in August 2023 will be fully equipped for mixed-sex training. When complete, the $66.6M aquatics training center will accommodate training for more than 3,000 AFSPECWAR trainees annually by incorporating a full range of special operations training scenarios.

The 76,000 square-foot center will feature mixed-sex restrooms, locker rooms, and showers, as well as two enclosed climate-controlled indoor pools of varying depths geared to meet the training needs for the Air Force’s global combat operations.

“The foundation we set today at the SWTW will produce the operators of the future who will compete, deter, and win the future high-end fight against peer and near-peer adversaries,” said Colunga. “We must ensure that these operators, who begin their careers in our pipelines, are able to reach their full potential and are not limited by the barriers of the past to then form the lethal and inclusive APFSPECWAR teams we need.”

Members of SWTW provide initial training for all U.S. Air Force Special Warfare training specialties, to include combat controllers, pararescue, special reconnaissance and tactical air control party Airmen.

To learn more about AFSPECWAR Airmen or other U.S. Air Force Special Warfare career opportunities, go to: www.airforce.com/careers/in-demand-careers/special-warfare.

By 1st Lieutenant Xiaofan Liu

Special Warfare Training Wing

Posted in AFSW, Air Force, Guest Post | 6 Comments »

AGR Program Changes on the Horizon

Wednesday, September 14th, 2022

ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AFNS) —

In line with Lt. Gen. John Healy’s strategic priorities of “Ready Now!” and “Transforming for the Future,” Air Force Reserve Command is instituting changes to the Active Guard and Reserve program effective Oct. 1.

On that day, roughly 6,000 AGR positions will complete the transition to “term” and have initial tour determination and extension approval authority at the wing commander level. Career status will be granted at six cumulative years of service in the AGR program.

“The AGR program will continue to provide promotion, career progression, retention, education and professional development opportunities for Reserve Citizen Airmen,” said Healy, chief of the Air Force Reserve and commander of AFRC. “Taking care of our Airmen will remain our priority during the transition as commanders ensure they have the critical AGR positions filled to be combat ready to meet operational demands in the future.”

As always, the program may lead to Airmen earning an active-duty retirement after attaining the required years of total active federal military service.

Career AGRs who wish to remain in the AGR program will continue to adhere to existing guidance and will accept permanent change of station, permanent change of assignment, training, developmental education and force development opportunities in accordance with Air Force Manual 36-2114, section 6.6.

AGR term positions were successfully introduced in 2019, and provide more agility in recruiting, retaining and managing AGR talent. After three years of implementation and review, AFR leadership is instituting changes to the AGR program. The transformation is part of AFRC’s mission and compliance with Healy’s task order “to ensure units are mission ready and properly resourced.”

Wing commanders, or their equivalent, will have tour length determination and extension approval authority. In the past, initial term tours were fixed at three years, with an extension up to five years requiring Deputy Commander, Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC/CD) or Deputy to the Chief, Air Force Reserve (AF/RE-D) approval. Now, advertisements for initial tour lengths – two, three, four or five years – will be determined by wing commanders and above. Tour extensions may not exceed a total tour length of five years.

The second change will remove the AGR career status option from the AGR continuation decision process. AGR members will be granted career status after completion of six cumulative years in the AGR program, in accordance with Department of Defense Instruction 1205.18, section 6.6.

Over the next month, communication will be provided through virtual town hall meetings, Facebook Live events, email and MyPers messages, and updates to command social media sites regarding the AGR changes.

For additional information, elevate any questions through your Numbered Air Force A1 staff or Headquarters Commander Support Staff.

Air Force Reserve Command Public Affairs

Posted in Air Force, Army, Guest Post, Profession of Arms | 1 Comment »

Airman Accelerates Change Through Persistence, Develops Tool for RPAs

Tuesday, September 13th, 2022

CANNON AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. (AFNS) —

In 2015, the 3rd Aircraft Maintenance Unit was tasked with reducing cargo taken on an MQ-1 Predator alert package with the goal to decrease the need for two C-17 Globemaster IIIs to only one. Then Tech. Sgt. Bridget Carroll had an idea to help achieve this goal with the creation of a “bird-in-a-box” later known as the Digital Aircraft Link Emulator, or DALE.

Though Carroll created the solution, she was not met with instant success. Her journey took seven years.

Spring 2015 – Need was discovered.

July 2015 – First MQ-1 DALE prototype created.

September 2015 – Airman Powered by Innovation submitted.

Spring 2016 – Space Dynamics Lab at the University of Utah created two DALE MQ-9 Reaper prototypes.

August 2018 – Air Force Special Operations Command 2019 Spark Tank competition submitted.

October 2018 – API disapproval

October 2018 – Notified that MQ-9 DALE had won AFSOC Spark Tank Top 5.

February 2019 – DALE presented at Air Force Association Spark Tank.

Present – DALE Jr. developed and employed.

“If we could mobilize our capability without an actual aircraft then we could get down range and get operational faster,” Carroll said. “I had the idea to put the minimum amount of aircraft parts in a box to still do line-of-sight checks with our control stations after we set up a field site.”

During her planning phase of DALE, the Air Force was retiring the MQ-1, which resulted in a lower risk if the aircraft parts were damaged during the project’s initial stages.

“Once all the parts came in, I took the MQ-1 computer, gutted an electronics case that was awaiting DRMO, spliced cables, drilled mounting brackets, and pieced together the first “bird-in-a-box” prototype,” she said.

Before the existence of DALE, this process would require more than 10 Airmen to accompany the package, set it up and tow the remotely piloted aircraft around the airfield to ensure link connections were made.

Today, the DALE can be unloaded and ready for use with two Airmen in less than an hour. It is used to establish line of sight connections on a remote airfield and can be unloaded, set up and prepared for link checks in a more efficient manner.

Carroll’s idea and her creation of DALE serve as an inspiration for all Airmen to lean into innovation to accelerate change.

“Spark Tank is a chance to celebrate our Air Force risk-takers, idea makers and entrepreneurs who refuse to accept the status quo and have determined their own fate by developing solutions that make it easier for us to bring our very best to the fight,” said Lauren Knausenberger, Spark Tank director.

Innovation competitions like Spark Tank create an avenue for Airmen to think outside of the box and in Carroll’s case, put her idea in a box.

“Don’t give up,” she said. “There’s always people and other avenues out there that will help you.”

Staff Sgt. Chase Ward, 727th Special Operations Aircraft Maintenance Squadron avionics craftsman, began working alongside Carroll and the DALE jr. prototype last year and has witnessed the impact of her innovation. He said that the final version of DALE is in the process of being manufactured and sent out Air Force wide.

“I appreciate being able to watch this process go full circle,” Ward said. “It is awesome to know that our ideas do matter.”

Carroll’s journey and level of success is a testimony to hard work, dedication and the impact of empowering Airmen with a culture of innovation. She did not allow a hurdle such as not winning a competition prevent her from accomplishing her goals.

Story by TSgt Kaylee Clark

Photos by SSgt Candin Muniz

27th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs

Posted in Air Force, Guest Post, MRO, SOF, UAS | 1 Comment »

Michigan ANG Medics Take New Combat Casualty Care Course

Sunday, September 11th, 2022

SELFRIDGE AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Mich. – Aerospace medical technicians with the 127th Medical Group, Michigan Air National Guard, took part in an innovative form of combat lifesaving training during August drill, practicing the battlefield care program replacing self-aid buddy care.

“The Air Force adopted this training to begin to give definitive care to patients early on following a trauma,” said Maj. Patrick Frank, 127th Medical Group medical administrative officer. “They found, through historical evidence, that the earlier patients receive trauma care, the higher their survivability rate will be.”

The tactical combat casualty care training teaches ways to reduce casualties in the field by improving the lifesaving skills of medical and non-medical military personnel.

The training Aug. 15-16 included classroom instruction and a field training exercise to practice applying immediate care on the battlefield. Modules for the 127th Medical Group brought experiences during recent conflicts to life to increase trauma survivability.

“The training scenario was that a bomb had gone off in a building, and it was determined to be a dirty bomb,” Frank said, referring to a conventional explosive containing radiological material. “The medical teams responded, suited up in [mission-oriented protective posture] gear, entered the building, assessed their patients, and were able to get them out and to a casualty collection point.”

To train service members from career fields outside the medical realm, TCCC is offered in three courses. The training at Selfridge was designed for aerospace medical technicians, pararescue and other uniformed medical providers who may deploy to support combat operations.

“We thought that this would be a great opportunity for [our medics] to be in their MOPP gear, go to the front line to get the patients out, and do the lifesaving skills that they need to do to in order to make sure that the patient is safe,” said 1st Lt. Heather Salgat, 127th Medical Group clinical nurse.

Other TCCC course offerings include “combat lifesaver,” designed for non-medical military members deployed to a combat situation, and the “all service member” course for any uniformed service member.

With the successful completion of the TCCC, participating members of the 127th Medical Group are ready to perform the trauma care techniques that can help save more lives.

“We have a lot of new individuals who just joined our unit, and them being involved in this training is exciting and better prepares them for the warfight,” Salgat said. “I am so proud of my team. Everybody jumped into it and did exactly what they needed to do.”

By SSgt Andrew Schumann, 127th Wing Public Affairs

Posted in Air Force, Guest Post, Medical, Training | Comments Off on Michigan ANG Medics Take New Combat Casualty Care Course

How the New Special Warfare Branch at Air Force Recruiting Service is Making a Difference

Thursday, September 8th, 2022

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas —

Historically, recruiting Airmen for Special Warfare career fields has been as tough as the Airmen who fill its ranks. So when Air Force Recruiting Service entered fiscal 2022, it organized a team in its Operations division here to inspire, engage and recruit future SW Airmen.

That team, called the SW branch, is reporting some progress despite headwinds that have characterized one of the toughest recruiting years in Air Force history for all career fields.

The selection process and relatively small size of the Air Force Special Warfare community compared to other career fields make members an elite class of warriors. So AFSPECWAR is lesser known compared to its counterparts in the Army, Navy and Marine Corps.

“We needed to share the story of our community, its feats of heroism and no longer be ‘quiet professionals’,” said Lt. Col. Joe Lopez, SW branch chief. The former Army Ranger and current Air Force combat rescue officer by trade, designed the 2022 plan to recruit aspiring Airmen for AFSPECWAR from within the Air Force as well as non-prior service future Airmen.

Unlike most branches at the AFRS headquarters, SW branch members visited universities and military installations where they met with all demographics while local Air Force recruiters focused on traditional recruiting methods. Overall, SW branch is searching for people with grit and determination who have the aptitude, mentality and physicality to endure the requirements of entering the SW career fields.

Those career opportunities include Combat Rescue, Special Tactics, and Tactical Air Control Party officer career fields as well as Pararescue, Combat Control, Special Reconnaissance, and Tactical Air Control Party enlisted career fields. In addition, the branch also supports recruitment for enabler Air Force Specialty Codes such as Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape, along with Explosive Ordnance Disposal enlisted career fields.

Specific to enlisted career fields, qualified applicants will enter the Special Warfare Operator Enlistment vectoring program designed in 2020 to streamline the enlistment process. This begins in the pre-accession phase where recruiting development teams identify potential SW candidates and begin the process to prepare them for the rigors of the Special Warfare training pipeline and later, their designated career field.

AFRS and the AFSPECWAR community aim to create a competitive model in the SWOE “Development Pool” where interested civilians strive to be sufficiently mentally and physically fit so they can be the next AFSPECWAR operators.

Part of the need and desire to move out more aggressively than before is because the Air Force has struggled to meet its goal for enlisted and officer ranks in AFSPECWAR.

“The intent of these outreach efforts is to establish rapport with interested applicants, give them insight on how to train smartly, and expose them with introductions to some of the physical challenges that they may experience while being screened and assessed so they’re better prepared mentally to overcome adversity during those trying times,” Lopez said. “All too often, we hear ‘I didn’t know the Air Force had this capability,’ so we are working to inspire, connect, develop and recruit future candidates into AFSPECWAR before they ship to Basic Military Training.”

Lopez’s team includes veteran recruiters who are familiar with the challenges of recruiting SW Airmen. “Recruiting special warfare Airmen for the Air Force is very difficult, because most civilians have only heard about Navy SEALs and Green Berets,” said Master Sgt. Kenneth Babb, SW branch superintendent and former SW recruiting flight chief. “Few have ever heard about this very small community of elite warriors inside the Air Force. We know that there are people out there who want to serve in the military as a ground combatant and we need them to know that there are opportunities for them in the Air Force.”

Circumstances dictated the need for a new, innovative approach and plan that synchronized the worldwide effort to recruit SW Airmen.

“This is the very reason AFRS stood SW branch up and we hit the ground running,” Lopez said. “In our first year alone, we engaged with almost 1,300 cadets in 42 different Air Force ROTC detachments to recruit potential special warfare officers,”

The SW branch also visited 10 different Air Force bases and met with more than 200 Airmen to conduct in-service recruiting for enlisted Airmen and officers.

Simultaneously, Lopez and his team supported initiatives to elevate public awareness and engage new enlistees. The SW branch helped AFSPECWAR obtain trademark approval for a new logo and was involved in the Air Force’s decision-making process to increase SW initial enlistment bonuses from $15,000 to $50,000.

“Our main goal is to streamline the process from recruiting America’s highly talented applicants to enter the Air Force and begin their journey, in the hopes of becoming an AFSPECWAR Airman,” Lopez said. “We truly believe that if we can improve AFSPECWAR’s brand awareness and promote the opportunities special warfare careers offer, then recruiting will be much easier.”

SW branch members said that, overall, AFSPECWAR’s most difficult challenge is recruiting SW Open Enlistment candidates. SW recruiters are spread throughout the U.S. where they need to bring in roughly 1,000 non-prior service recruits each year.

“I was blown away by the effort a recruiter puts into shipping a SWOE candidate,” said Master Sgt. Matthew Voss, a SERE specialist assigned to the SW branch. Before Voss was assigned to AFRS, he served as a flight chief for the SERE Specialist Orientation Course at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland’s Chapman Annex. He is the first SERE specialist assigned to AFRS.

“The Airmen of AFSPECWAR are absolutely critical when a conflict kicks off and we need to ensure that we have sufficient Airmen ready for the next conflict,” Voss said. “That all starts with recruiting.”

By Air Force Recruiting Service Public Affairs, Air Force Recruiting Service

Posted in AFSW, Air Force, Guest Post | 3 Comments »

AFSOC’s Mission Sustainment Teams Provide Innovative Leap in SOFORGEN

Tuesday, September 6th, 2022

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. —

Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) continues to innovate the way Air Commandos train and execute joint special operations missions in this century’s complex and competitive battlespace.

Among these recent innovative changes include the further development of multi-functional Airmen and their integration into a new Special Operations Task Unit (SOTU), known as a Mission Sustainment Team (MST).

“As the Air Force continues to operationalize and codify its approaches to Agile Combat Employment (ACE), a key effort is establishing how we’ll bring together the complementary capabilities of our fighter, bomber, mobility, and special operations forces,” said Dr. Sandeep Mulgund, Senior Advisor to the Air Force’s deputy chief of staff for operations. “Doing so will be key to creating, maintaining, and fighting from positions of advantage, which the CSAF has emphasized in recent remarks about ACE. By integrating MSTs into SOF capabilities, we’ll provide more options for our joint force and coalition commanders on how to generate and employ airpower.”

For nearly a year, the 1st Special Operations Wing, has developed its MST as a proof of concept to ensure multi-capable Airmen within AFSOC are able to meet the needs of combatant commanders against any potential adversary in the future. Its role will be to act as the connective tissue that bridges the Air Force’s ACE capability with current AFSOF capabilities in a joint environment.

“Our MST allows us to provide force support, civil engineering, communications, logistics, security forces, medical, airfield management and contracting capabilities,” said Col. Daniel Magruder, 1 SOW vice commander. “We now can take what are normally base support functions and operationalize them to support combat missions. Ultimately, without the total package of aviation, maintenance, and support provided by our multi-capable Airmen, the mission will not get done.”

In order to accomplish this capability, MSTs are designed to train 58 Air Commandos from 22 different Air Force AFSCs with seamlessly blending their operations and becoming proficient in several competencies in order to receive, prepare and redeploy aircraft expeditiously.

“It’s a huge asset to the MST for our Airmen to have the adaptability and confidence in varying skills to better meet the challenges of the changing threat environment and determine best practices for mission support within the ACE construct moving forward,” said Capt. Melissa Cecil, 1st Special Operations Mission Support Group Detachment 1 commander. “Our goal is to empower our Air Commandos to problem solve and think critically while also giving them the tools they need to operate and make decisions at dispersed locations. In some of these locations, they will be relied upon as the subject matter expert for all things mission support.”

Utilizing multi-capable Airmen was at the forefront of AFSOC leaders’ mind when they developed the MST.

“Our MSTs are empowered to adapt to assigned missions,” said Magruder. “As an Air Force, it is important to empower units at the lowest level to achieve their assigned missions.”

“Each of the military services are developing approaches to operations that recognize the need for agility and maneuver in the future threat environment,” added Mulgund. “They each have their unique focus areas and nuances, but common to all is this idea of being light on your feet to shift forces and effort where and when required. Joint approaches to agility will pull all these together to meet the needs of our combatant commanders worldwide. MSTs are part of that joint solution. Our Air Commandos now can enable and support austere operations by other special operations forces as well as allied forces when required.”

The 1 SOW’s MST recently tested their ability to help generate and integrate into air operations components during its recent participation in two exercises with drastically different theaters of operation.

“MSTs provide flexibility to the force because they can establish, sustain and retrograde forward operating locations for AFSOF mission generation,” said Magruder. “The team has been aggressively rehearsing this training in exercises like Agile Flag or INDOPACOM’s Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise.”

As part of Air Combat Command’s Agile Flag, an exercise in a simulated rural deployed setting, the MST assisted in enabling scripted joint force air component ACE missions.

“Multi-capable Airmen is what gives the MST the capabilities it has,” said Capt. Patrick Sutton-Buscavage, 1 SOMSG Det 1 director of operations. “During Agile Flag we were able to rapidly support and sustain operations for Aircrew, maintenance and forward arming and refueling point (FARP) teams in two separate locations at the same time. Without multi-capable Airmen on our team, this doesn’t happen.”

Although Agile Flag is aimed at testing several different units’ mission generation, command and control, and base operating support-integrator elements, the MST’s inclusion provided an avenue to test the newly implemented special operations sustainment task unit in a realistic and controlled setting. It also allowed those who will be deploying in the newer, more predictable, deployment structure to develop the continuity of processes and team building needed to effectively operate in austere conditions or in support of a Theater Special Operations Command.

“The intent of MST is to align directly with the SOFORGEN cycle and integrate into a SOTU construct downrange,” Cecil said. “Although the MST is still in its infancy, we are working to build relationships and seek out further training and utilization opportunities to demonstrate how we can best be integrated across multiple areas of operation.”

In addition to Agile Flag, the MST also supported INDOPACOM’ recent RIMPAC exercise, which is the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise. The MST’s involvement in the exercise directly influenced the ability for commanders to employ not just American special forces but also from India, Germany and the Republic of Korea.

“Large exercises, like RIMPAC, allow our team to showcase our force generation capabilities to the joint and international forces while also looking for ways to collaborate,” Magruder said. “The benefits of the MST concept is that it allows our commanders to employ multiple teams across a large AOR in order to form a more theater level power projection platform.”

“Whatever the challenge, we’ll need small multi-disciplinary teams like MSTs to support mission generation in a wide variety of operating environments,” Mulgund added.

The MST continues to prove that the development of multi-capable Airmen is pivotal to the future of how AFSOC generates forces.

“Multi-capable Airmen are the building blocks for developing small capable special operations teams required to adapt to any combat environment,” said Magruder. “Their incorporation into the MST is the first step in the wing’s campaign to improve the way we process and provide sustained logistical support against any potential adversaries.”

By TSgt Michael Charles, 1st Special Operations Wing

Posted in Air Force, Guest Post, SOF | Comments Off on AFSOC’s Mission Sustainment Teams Provide Innovative Leap in SOFORGEN

Exercise Distant Horizon Validates Indo-Pacific Sustainment Functions

Tuesday, August 30th, 2022

PATRICK SPACE FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFNS) —

More than 140 sustainment and operations Airmen from the 920th Rescue Wing established a temporary contingency location, or TCL, in less than 24 hours at Patrick Space Force Base to conduct the wing’s exercise Distant Horizon, Aug. 1-10, which validated the multi-capable sustainment abilities of a Personnel Recovery Task Force, or PRTF, in the jungle environments of the Indo-Pacific region.

Distant Horizon is an annual exercise that prepares the wing’s PRTFs for global, untethered access, war, contingency, humanitarian, and in extremis operations around the world. These readiness requirements support the wing’s mission to plan, lead and conduct military rescue operations and missions to deny competitors and adversaries exploitation of isolated personnel.

In less than one day, Airmen from every group in the wing were transported more than 4,700 miles to a remote island location that is part of the U.S. Army’s 25th Infantry Division training area. The PRTF loaded more than 130,000 pounds of aircraft, weapons, and equipment, and established a self-sustained encampment for a PRTF-Medium.

From the TCL, a group of sustainment, maintenance and operations Airmen established two separate initial contingency locations, or ICL, at geographically separated locations on another island where sites were established to support contingency activities. Using the wing’s organic intra-theater airlift, the team pushed advanced forces to four different geographically separated locations on multiple islands that covered more than 200-square-miles.

“When war occurs, the catalyst for battlespace success is our noncommissioned officers’ and company-grade officers’ ability to lead well in chaos,” said Col. John Dobbin, 920th Rescue Wing commander. “We conduct these exercises to test our wing leaders and maintain focus on the inevitables of war, which are: you will never have all the information, necessary resources, adequate manpower, nor enough money yet, fight you must.”

The PRTF structure distributes forces in light, medium and heavy configurations that can maneuver and sustain organically throughout all operating environments. In lockstep with the Air Force’s Agile Combat Employment applications, the new PRTF structure utilizes multi-capable Airmen from across the wing to provide both offensive and defensive capabilities during personnel recovery, contingency location establishment and intra-theater airlift operations. The PRTF-Medium supported in this exercise is composed of four Guardian Angel teams, four HH-60G Pave Hawks, two HC-130J Combat King IIs, and a contingent of special mission personnel.

Three HC-130Js from the wing provided airlift into theater teaming with a C-5 Super Galaxy from the 512th Airlift Wing, Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, and a C-17 Globemaster III from the 446th Airlift Wing, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. The wing’s HC-130s and one HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter provided all the intra-theater airlift requirements between the ICL and TCL locations.

The lynchpin of the exercise was the sustainment team, made up of Airmen from the 920th Mission Support Group, where the logistics readiness squadron maneuvered 130 tons of cargo across multiple islands and four geographically separated locations while using organic airlift. They delivered more than 1,800 gallons of water and 500 gallons of fuel to sustain the TCL over eight days for more than 140 personnel. The force support squadron developed a new accountability system to track the position of all friendly forces and served 984 meals over six days from the Single Pallet Expeditionary Kitchen. The security forces squadron provided ICL and TCL defense to ensure all personnel and equipment were safeguarded 24/7 throughout the duration of the exercise. The communication squadron provided over-the-air reach back capability through multiple high- and low-tech systems where friendly forces mission-tracked forward operations while maintaining higher headquarters connectivity.

“These Airmen traveled 4,700 miles and found out what is required of them when they are pulled forward into a TCL or ICL in a combat environment,” said Maj. Traci Arnold, exercise and task force commander. “They stepped up to provide the four key elements for our forward deployed operations: food, ammo, fuel, and water. When we provide these for the PRTF, forward deployed operations don’t have to return to a rear location to resupply. They can continue the mission, which will save time and lives.”

There were three primary areas of training on the ground that included jungle survival, base defense tactics, and medical response to a traumatic event with additional training in the use of radios, repositioning the camp for a hasty exfiltration, and other group leadership challenges.

Medical personnel conducted training on Tactical Combat Casualty Care and patient movement and loading. They also trained on jungle survival techniques from survival, evasion, resistance, and escape, or SERE, specialists where they learned Indo-Pacific focused skills.

Airmen moved beyond their Air Force specialty codes while receiving specific training to support combat rescue operations. Security forces provided training on foot patrols, troop movements with contact to fire, reconnaissance, personnel detainment, search and interrogation, weapons handling, radio emission control discipline, and TCL security.

“We validated the capability to organically support our operational forces and to move cargo and personnel daily to and from an ICL. Each Airman is critical to the success of this mission and their AFSC does not matter. They are warfighters first,” Arnold said.

Story by Lt Col Ian Phillips

Photos SSgt Darius Sostre-Miroir

920th Rescue Wing

Posted in Air Force, Guest Post, Training | Comments Off on Exercise Distant Horizon Validates Indo-Pacific Sustainment Functions

Airman’s Innovation Saves Time, Money

Sunday, August 28th, 2022

RAF MILDENHALL, United Kingdom (AFNS) —

Thousands of hours are spent each year removing and installing a boom cover on a KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft – hours that could be used elsewhere. One 100th Maintenance Squadron Airman has invented a new boom cover tool that has the potential to save the U.S. Air Force 40,000 man-hours and approximately $1 million per year.

“I noticed as soon as I got to Mildenhall that removing and installing the boom cover was tedious and time consuming,” said Airman 1st Class Jacob Helzer, 100th MXS hydraulics maintenance journeyman. “Removing the cover the conventional way involves calling the Aerospace Ground Equipment backshop for an aircraft stand and requires two Airmen and a substantial amount of time.”

The current conventional method hinders daily operations, whereas the innovative solution Helzer created is easier, takes less time and lessens the impact on the flow of operations.

“One of the maintenance crew chiefs reached out because he knew I enjoy 3D printing and design and believed I could come up with a solution for the boom cover,” Helzer said. “I then came up with a prototype for a tool that could make the process much smoother.”

Tech Sgt. Steven Jakubowski said Helzer is always looking for ways to innovate and constantly asking questions to gain further knowledge.

“He spent a lot of his free time, outside of work, designing the boom cover tool,” Jakubowski said.

Helzer, using his skill and knowledge with 3D printing, created a prototype called the “Boom Cover Tool.” The tool was manufactured with Helzer’s 3D printer and resembles a butterfly net on the end of a retractable pole with a hoop mechanism that tightens and loosens the net covering on the opposite end.

“Once I created the prototype, I brought it to my section and tested it out,” Helzer said. “A 30-minute job became a one-minute job with the Boom Cover Tool.”

The Boom Cover Tool greatly reduces the number of man-hours needed every time a cover needs to be removed or installed on an aircraft and the cover itself better protects the boom pod during adverse weather conditions.

Each Boom Cover Tool costs roughly $200 to produce.

“The projected savings were calculated by him and I while submitting for Spark Tank by using the 2021 comptroller document for wages,” Jakubowski said.

“I did the math and the projected savings for the Air Force if they utilized the Boom Cover Tool for the entirety of the refueling fleet would be approximately $1 million and potentially 40,000 man-hours annually,” Helzer added.

In order to meet this goal, Helzer has been collaborating with the MXS fabrication flight to produce the test prototypes for each aircraft here.

“Once we have everything streamlined, we can move into the beta testing phase, which is roughly six months, then move on to scaling up for the entire KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft fleet,” Helzer said.

Moving forward, Helzer plans on developing a batch of tools for the local KC-135 fleet to prove the design concept. Helzer would then like to contract the fabrication of a final, more durable prototype and share the Boom Cover Tool throughout the entire fleet and modify the design to be adopted for other variations of refueling aircraft.

“Helzer has been a go-getter from the moment he arrived on station and is always hungry to learn all aspect of his job, and his critical thinking skills are some of the bests I’ve ever seen,” Jakubowski said.

Helzer has always been motivated to improve himself and the way things are done at his job, and one example of this is the Boom Cover Tool.

“This is how change starts, by questioning the way we do things and coming up with a solution that will benefit Airmen at all levels,” Helzer said. “I created the Boom Cover Tool to make the lives of my Wingmen easier and inspire Airmen to devise and implement new ideas to help improve even the simplest tasks.”

By Airman 1st Class Alvaro Villagomez, 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs

Posted in Air Force, Guest Post, MRO | 13 Comments »