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Air Force Battle Lab Accelerates Battle Management for PACAF, ABMS CFT, ACC

Sunday, February 19th, 2023

NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. (AFNS) —

The 805th Combat Training Squadron, also known as the Shadow Operations Center-Nellis, recently hosted its second annual ShOC Flag event at Nellis Air Force Base. The event’s primary purpose was to analyze decision-making in a U.S. Indo-Pacific Command scenario to gather insights into operational and tactical command and control processes.

“The Air Force has identified some pretty significant command and control challenges when we apply our current way of doing business in a scenario versus a peer adversary,” said Col. Aaron Gibney, 505th Combat Training Group commander. “To get after these gaps, the ShOC-N has established an environment where we measure old way versus new way, old toy versus new toy, and start accelerating our ability to C2 the war—during deliberate planning and dynamic execution. These insights will inform future requirements and acquisition strategies, as well as our approach to tactics and training.”

The 805th CTS pitted current warfighter systems and procedures against new technologies to gather insights and streamline operational and tactical C2 processes to speed up the kill chain and decision-making timeline. The objective of ShOC Flag was to gather warfighter feedback and stakeholder involvement while showcasing key technologies ready for rapid acquisition decisions, accelerating the planning cycle, providing information superiority and decision advantage, and compressing the decision-making timeline.

These experimental efforts, along with showcasing developing technology on the horizon for the warfighter and the lessons learned from ShOC Flag, have contributed to proofing the current capabilities of the Air Force’s Advanced Battle Management System Battle Lab to instrument data to the Joint All Domain Command and Control ability, compress C2 planning, and execution to accelerate decision-making across the kill chain.

Planning for the event began over six months ago with collaboration between the 805th CTS, Secretary of the Air Force’s Studies and Analysis team, Headquarters Air Force ABMS Cross-Functional team, Rapid Capabilities Office, Air Combat Command, Pacific Air Forces, U.S. Air Force Warfare Center, 505th Command and Control Wing and industry partners.

With stakeholder’s objectives in mind, the 805th CTS built a three-day, three-scenario experiment intended to satisfy all stakeholders and provide warfighters with the opportunity to work through very complex and dynamic targeting processes against peer adversaries.

During the experiment, the ABMS team, in partnership with the SecAF’s Studies and Analysis team, conducted a ground-breaking battle management experiment which will allow the Air Force to identify credible capability improvements. This foundational event was a success and set in motion a repeatable process for discerning requirements aimed at SecAF Frank Kendall’s Operational Imperatives.

Separately, the PACAF and ACC teams were using the experiment to learn about capabilities advertised as ready for operations, one of which was the Tactical Operations Center prototypes using a joint long-range fires scenario.

Participants used constructive modeling and simulation data to simultaneously utilize current and future technologies in a simulated deployed combat environment. The event also created an opportunity for the tactical air control party Agile Control Integration Team, or ACIT, to demonstrate its capability as a mobile C2 platform.

ShOC Flag also allowed industry partners to showcase their technology by enabling the warfighter to have hands-on use and provide direct feedback to mission partners.

“This level of feedback is critical in ensuring next-generation technologies meet the needs of the warfighter,” said Lt. Col. John Ohlund, 805th CTS commander.

A member of the ABMS CFT stated this event is the only one all year where you have this many levels of command and different C2 communities come together to have these kinds of important conversations.

In 2023, ShOC Flag events will be renamed ShOC Capstone events as the event’s emphasis shifts from advanced training to the culmination of experimentation events. The next capstone event, scheduled for December 2023, will result from the 805th CTS continuing to construct and execute smaller instrumentation experiments throughout the year.

By 505th Command and Control Wing Public Affairs

Posted in Air Force, Guest Post | Comments Off on Air Force Battle Lab Accelerates Battle Management for PACAF, ABMS CFT, ACC

European Theater CSELs Participate in Nordic Regional Engagement

Friday, February 17th, 2023

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (AFNS) —

Command senior enlisted leaders from U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa, NATO Allied Air Command, the Royal Danish, Royal Norwegian, Finnish, and Swedish air forces recently participated in a Nordic regional engagement to Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland.

The two-week engagement provided a platform for the CSELs to discuss Agile Combat Employment across the Nordic nations, explore multinational, professional military education exchange opportunities and discuss the operational environment in the High North.

“The Nordic visit is a significant engagement,” said Royal Air Force Warrant Officer Simon Waldock, command senior enlisted leader for NATO Allied Air Command. “The visit will provide an important steppingstone in developing and strengthening relationships and partnerships in the region.

Waldock also said this trip is paramount to the success of NATO.

“NATO’s fundamental goal is to safeguard the [allies] freedom and security by both political and military means,” Waldock expressed. “The expertise and knowledge the High North partners have is fundamental. The part they play in countering the threat from any adversary is critical, and their support to assist nullifying the effectiveness of any hostile air actions is fundamental in the success of NATO in the Nordic region.”

In conjunction with visiting NATO countries Denmark and Norway, the tour also visited Sweden and Finland, both of which have applied for NATO membership within the last year.

“Although not officially NATO members yet, both Sweden and Finland are critical to the NATO mission,” Waldock said. “Both geographically and strategically, the Nordic region is an area of significant importance to the NATO alliance. Both countries are near the High North and Arctic regions. These areas are key to the success of the NATO mission and will continue to be going forward.”

In addition to discussing strategic importance of the NATO region, the engagement focused heavily on the development of the enlisted corps, specifically the non-commissioned officers in the four nations, as well as professional military education exchanges across the allied nations and partners.

“Developing our NCOs is critical to the success of our air forces,” said U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Benjamin Hedden, USAFE-AFAFRICA command chief. “We’ve seen in recent history that a military without a strong NCO presence will fail. For that reason, it’s critical that we learn from each other, discuss ways to improve and work on ways to develop our enlisted force across the alliance.”

He continued by saying, “This trip gives us a unique opportunity to work face-to-face in developing the groundwork necessary to solve issues facing our enlisted forces. By learning more about the NCO corps of each nation, we find areas of common grounds and challenges that we can collectively work together to solve.”

Waldock summed up the two-week trip by saying in the end it’s all about the partnership events like the Nordic regional CSEL engagement build that are so important.

“It’s about enhancing CSEL relationships and friendships within the Nordic region,” he said. “Solidify already strong, current relationships with Norway and Denmark CSELs and develop new relationships with future NATO CSELs from both Sweden and Finland. The High North and Arctic region are a key area now and will continue to be a key region heading into the future.”

By MSgt Michael Battles, U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa Public Affairs

Posted in Air Force, Guest Post, International, Profession of Arms | Comments Off on European Theater CSELs Participate in Nordic Regional Engagement

US Air Force Museum to Open Survival Exhibit

Tuesday, February 14th, 2023

Opening February 18th, the US Air Force Museum will host “Survival: The Exhibit” which promises to combine STEM concepts with hands-on challenges to empower you with the skills, know-how, and confidence to survive any scenario. But all from the safety of a museum.

Looks like a lot of fun. Take the kids!

The Air Force Museum is located on Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, OH, and has free entry.

Learn more here.

Posted in Air Force, SERE | 1 Comment »

317th AW Brings Tactical Airlift to Battalion Mass Tactical Week

Tuesday, February 14th, 2023

DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) —

The 317th Airlift Wing supported Battalion Mass Tactical Week at Pope Army Airfield, North Carolina, Jan. 22-28.

BMTW is a week of training simulating a U.S. Indo-Pacific Command 24-hour response scenario. Three C-130J Super Hercules from the 317th AW alongside three C-17 Globemaster III from Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina, trained with the 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, as an integrated force to provide strategic and tactical airpower.

“Events in the past, such as D-Day, have led to a demonstrated need for these events giving us now the ability to respond anywhere in the world, utilizing the strategic and tactical airpower of the C-130s and C-17s,” said Lt. Col. Ryan Miller, 317th Operations Group deputy commander and airlift mission commander.

Aircrews focused on meeting the Army’s scatter plan during BMTW by strategically spreading where the paratrooper, heavy equipment and container delivery systems containing supplies would land for ground personnel within the drop zone.

“Joint operations are always difficult and there is a clear need for us to continuously improve,” Miller said. “Being within this environment gets us out of our comfort zone. Moving to something a little more complicated makes us work together as an integrated force which ultimately improves ourselves.”

One of the challenges with BMTW was conducting dissimilar six-ship formations. There are risks associated with flying a dissimilar six-ship formation because of aircraft performance, such as differing slow-down speeds, power settings and altitudes.

“The timing of all of this matters,” Miller said. “When you combine all the different aspects of each aircraft in a high tempo environment, things can get missed. Deconfliction between the aircraft, ensuring the safety of our personnel by communicating and learning with the Army all matters for the mission’s success.”

Many risks were associated with executing BMTW properly, but through disciplined planning and execution, the aircrews and soldiers who participated have come out of BMTW having built a more strongly integrated team.

“The 317th AW participation in BMTW enables continued development of an experienced and capable joint force. While airdrop is one of our oldest core competencies, this exercise allowed us to use emerging technologies to deliver our joint partners with more precision into the battlespace. The time we gain for them improves survivability and makes them even more lethal upon arrival,” said Col. Thomas Lankford, 317th AW commander.

By Airman 1st Class Ryan Hayman, 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs

Posted in Air Force, Aviation, Guest Post, Parachuting | Comments Off on 317th AW Brings Tactical Airlift to Battalion Mass Tactical Week

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

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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