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VIRTUAL FLAG: JAGIC C2, First-of-its-kind Joint Training Event

Thursday, September 30th, 2021

The first VIRTUAL FLAG exercise dedicated to training the Joint Air Ground Integration Center’s command and control was successfully executed at the 705th Combat Training Squadron’s Distributed Mission Operation Center located at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, Aug. 23-27.

The DMOC developed, integrated, and successfully executed VF: JAGIC C2 with facilitation of the Airmen from 505th Command and Control Wing, Detachment 1 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

The exercise was designed specifically for the JAGIC training audience which encompassed a mixture of U.S. Air Force active duty and National Guard Airmen from the 13th, 148th, and 168th Air Support Operations Squadrons, and U.S. Army Soldiers from the 28th Infantry Division. U.S. Marine Corps’ conceptual Marine Air Operation Center, or MAOC, tactical C2 elements from 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, participated virtually in the first-of-its-kind exercise event providing multi-layer airspace deconfliction support to strike, intelligence, and C2 platforms.

The DMOC is the USAF’s hub for distributed combat training exercises and testing. Warfighters at locations around the globe, connected through the DMOC, face realistic threat scenarios to practice tactics and procedures. The DMOC architecture integrates virtual and constructive simulations across various networks to support a synthetic battlespace that models weapons, C2, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems.

“VF: JAGIC C2 provided the entire training audience an opportunity to interact with joint elements of the Theater Air Control System with minimum additional personnel demands on high-demand/low-density assets,” said 2nd Lt. Rachel Pohl, VF: JAGIC C2 technical director. “Through the DMOC, VF: JAGIC C2 linked geographically-separated joint units from across the country together, allowing each to interact with one another using weapons system simulators at their home stations.”

While the DMOC’s VFs are well-known for their success in exercising various tactical-to-operational weapon systems, VF: JAGIC C2 marked the first time it has made the JAGIC the principal training audience.

“The objective in VF: JAGIC C2 was to integrate and deliver DMO capabilities to prepare warfighters for combat in a joint environment; specifically developing tactics, techniques and procedures, through a first-ever networked system called JTAGSS [Joint Theater Air-Ground Simulator System],” said Lt. Col. Lindsay Post, 705th CTS commander. “Nobody dies in a virtual exercise but they learn how to survive, thrive and win in a real-world fight.”

The 505th CCW, Det 1, is the USAF Warfare Center’s resident liaison to the USA’s Combined Arms Center and Mission Command Training Program at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. 505th CCW, Det 1 Airmen are experienced observers, coaches, and trainers who prepare a host of USAF liaison and C2 elements – including those within the JAGIC – for future global operations through MCTP training events such as Warfighter exercises. Det 1 Airmen consisting of intelligence, C2, and tactical air control party subject matter experts leveraged their experience during VF: JAGIC C2 to stress and teach the JAGIC’s training audiences.

Det 1 members worked within the DMOC led the Operational Assessment Cell to fill a wide range of support roles during the exercise. Detachment Airmen provided hands-on coaching and training to USAF and USA JAGIC personnel joint fires integration leveraging many virtual and constructed USA fire support systems such as High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems and MQ-1C Gray Eagles, and USAF air-to-ground strike platforms including A-10s, F-35s, and B-52s. Through mission execution observation Det 1 Airmen developed mission debrief focus points which sharpened JAGIC members’ procedural control skills, air interdiction coordination proficiency, and post-strike assessment processes in a Large Scale Combat Operations environment.

Capt. Matthew Winot, 505th CCW, Det 1, ISR liaison officer, never lost sight of his team’s ultimate aim of helping JAGIC training audiences depart VF: JAGIC C2 more effective fighting forces than they arrived.

“We, as Det 1 representatives, coached JAGIC members on multi-domain C2 processes with a focus on those joint and coalition capabilities that would likely be employed in an LSCO fight,” said Winot. “Specifically, as Det 1’s ISRLO, coaching JAGIC training audiences on how to leverage traditional and nontraditional ISR assets for battle damage assessment and collection efforts enabled each JAGIC to streamline their doctrinally-based processes and tactics.”

Col. Michael Goodman, 505th CCW, Det 1 commander, highlighted the significance of the event, “As the [U.S.] Air Force lead for C2 experimentation, training, testing, exercise, evaluation and tactics development, the 505th CCW conducted VF: JAGIC C2 at COMACC’s [Commander Air Combat Command] direction to provide a realistic virtual training environment for joint operational and tactical warfighters.”

Goodman continued, “Overall, this was a huge win for ensuring our future competitiveness against a near-peer adversary.”

VF: JAGIC C2 provides a much-needed avenue to train critically important JAGIC teams when the USA component’s renewed focus on LSCO and associated weapon systems advancements hold the potential to affect the Theater Air Ground System, according to Goodman.

“Modern surface-to-surface land component fires now have the capability to range far into the airspace and area of operations that is historically the responsibility of the air component commander for C2 and air interdiction,” said Goodman. “These new surface-to-surface fires represent another capability to help disintegrate integrated air defense systems, but first, we’ve got to train in a joint manner to realize those effects fully. VF: JAGIC C2 is where we’re going to make that happen.”

“VF: JAGIC C2 was an intense look at a particular aspect of the bigger war that we do not usually get the chance to focus on. It is always incorporated into our bigger fight-focused exercises but this time we got down into the mud with it,” offered Lt. Col. Michael Butler, 705th CTS director of operations.

VF: JAGIC C2 was best summed up during the post exercise hot-wash by a participant who said “this is the best exercise we have ever had. We have never had the opportunity to be the supported participant and that made the difference. That said, we discovered that we have much more to work on in future JAGIC C2 exercises.”

The 705th CTS reports to the 505th Combat Training Group, Nellis AFB, Nevada, and the 505th Command and Control Wing headquartered at Hurlburt Field, Florida.

505th Command and Control Wing (ACC)
Public Affairs

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55th Communications Squadron Redesignated as Cyber Squadron

Monday, September 27th, 2021

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. (AFNS) —

The 55th Communications Squadron recently met all objectives required by the Air Force to be redesignated as the 55th Cyber Squadron.

The redesignation indicates the squadron will add a new Mission Defense Team to its overall capabilities while continuing to maintain their legacy mission.

“I’m so proud of the unit and our amazing Airmen,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Wong, 55th CS commander. “We have accomplished all of this through COVID, with a huge deployment burden and the transition to Lincoln.”

For the unit’s Airmen, the redesignation means they are not only responsible for ensuring the installation’s communication infrastructure is protected, but they are also now proactive cyber defense operators on the Air Force’s tactical edge.

“One of the major hurdles that we had to overcome was shifting our mindset from a maintenance to an operational perspective,” said 2nd Lt. Jeffrey Cruse, 55 CS Cyber Defense Flight commander. “No longer is our primary focus customer issues or general system maintenance, but instead we are thinking about ways to engage near-peer adversaries and defend our mission critical networks and infrastructure.”

The unit’s redesignation to a cyber squadron comes only after it met four phases outlined by the Air Force. They include maintaining the unit’s current mission, declaring Initial Operating Capability on its new MDT mission, implementing Enterprise IT-as-a-Service, and having the wing commander recommend the redesignation to the unit’s major command.

By continuing its legacy mission and with the implementation of EITaaS at Offutt Air Force Base in 2020, the unit had to mostly focus its efforts on ensuring its new MDT mission met all of its IOC requirements to make the transition a reality.

“Due to some very unique circumstances here at Offutt (AFB), our squadron was in an advanced position, which enabled us to be a front running cyber squadron and MDT organization,” Wong said.

This included adding specific cyber equipment, tweaking the unit’s manning document, qualification training, and the development of unit specific defensive tactics, techniques and procedures.

“We had to put in place so many new processes and procedures and completely change the way we do business, not just within the team but within our entire squadron,” Cruse said. “As for the operators, once things got moving along they were fully bought in and on board. They had been working and waiting for so long to finally get connected to a system and apply their skills. Once we were able to make our first connection, it was game on for them.”

The unit focused heavily on building a robust operations training program early on in the process and that paid off in the end.

“We’ve put more people through the initial qualification training and mission qualification training pipeline than any other squadron in the Air Force,” Wong said. “We’ve done that just over the past four months and in fact, we’re looking to double that number here soon.”

As part of this redesignation, the unit is further integrating itself into the wing’s operations environment. This includes allowing its Airmen access to the RC-135’s ground and onboard systems for the first time ever.

“One of our main tasks now is RC-135 mission assurance,” Wong said. “To that end we have established an officer exchange program with the 55th Operations Group, we’re now on the jet, flying with them, and all of these are major efforts to help us get to RC-135 mission assurance.”

“Our cyber warriors are proving to the ops world that cyber deserves a seat at the table and play a critical role in their missions,” Cruse added. “What this means for the wing is that we now have a robust capability and way to provide defensive cyber forces to the fight and ensure the unique mission set of the RC-135 and its variants can provide their ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] capabilities to the nation.”

Along with meeting all of the criteria for the redesignation, the unit also underwent some internal restructuring. They have consolidated all battlespace activities under the new Information Technology Support Flight, defined a distinct Operation Support Flight, and changed the name of the Cyber Protection Flight to Cyber Defense Flight.

“We want to employ each individual’s technical expertise and talents to get after the mission set,” Wong said. “This will be key when we start engaging nation states as they will have to rely on those critical-thinking abilities in order to plan, execute and operate in those environments.”

While the unit continues to adapt to its changing mission, the leadership team said this transition wouldn’t have been possible without an array of base agencies who support the 55th CS mission.

“We have a great relationship with all of our mission partners,” Wong said. “The reason all of this has worked is because we have made a huge effort to build strong, positive relationships.”

55th Wing Public Affairs

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Aviation Detachment Rotation 21-4: 435th CRS, Polish Special Forces Open Airfield Ops

Thursday, September 23rd, 2021

Three U.S. Air Force Airmen make final preparations for a 37th Airlift Squadron C-130J Super Hercules aircraft out of Ramstein Air Base, Germany, to drop 16 Polish special forces members at an abandoned runway near Biala Podlaska, Poland, during Aviation Detachment Rotation 21-4, Sept. 15, 2021.

This operation is the culmination of precision work to secure a drop zone and landing zone with the Polish special forces, executed by a cross-functional, rapidly deployable U.S. Air Force team designed to assess and open airbases and perform initial airfield operations enabling rapid standup of combat operations anywhere.

“We go in light, and when the operation is done, we can get out quick,” said Tech. Sgt. James Supernault, 435th Contingency Response Group air traffic controller. “This is why our team exists.”

Supernault and his team provide operational guidance on this competency to Polish special forces members as they demonstrate their ability to open an airfield, off load assets and prepare a rapid and safe departure of aircraft.

“We are still in the process of building the combat controller competency in the Polish military,” said Lucas, Polish special forces combat controller section commander. “This exercise gives us an opportunity to learn and share information.”

The 435th CRG team can assess the validity of an airfield anywhere, and the work starts far before the team receives their first aircraft.

“Before we get to a location, we look at imagery and prior surveys for anything that may present big issues to our aircraft or personnel,” said Tech. Sgt. Benjamin Stewart, a 435th Contingency Response Group airfield manager. “When we arrive on location, we get eyes on and assess anything that could pose a safety hazard.”

The team assesses both the safety above and below the ground.

“As an engineer, I inspect landing zones by testing for weak surface areas and ensure gradients are within tolerance so that aircraft can safely conduct operations,” said Staff Sgt. Cody Paynter, 435th Contingency Response Group engineer. “If the surface is strong enough, and there are no obstructions, we can land an aircraft anywhere.”

As a three-man team, Supernault, Stewart and Paynter, shared their knowledge with Polish special forces members, and successfully secured both the landing zone and drop zone for this exercise.

“My mission and responsibility as an air traffic controller is to ensure the safety of arriving and departing aircraft, while expediting the flow of air traffic,” Supernault said. “Additionally, I am responsible for the safety of personnel and equipment being dropped and that they drop in the correct location. Each time we come to Poland, Polish forces increase their capabilities, and I’m here on the ground with them to make sure everything goes seamlessly.”

The interoperability between U.S. and Polish forces continues to play an important role in NATO mission readiness.

“This exercise is a chance to build our self-confidence and our breadth of knowledge about combat control work,” Lucas said. “We have the opportunity to learn from the best teachers, because the U.S. is the world leader in this kind of work. For us, any contact during a live exercise to improve tactics and to conduct runway operations, including safely landing an aircraft, is exactly what we’re looking for.”

Aviation Detachment Rotations are bilateral training exercises and deployments designed to enhance partner interoperability, maintain joint readiness, and assure our regional allies. These events occur across the U.S. European Command area of responsibility, and U.S. aircraft and Airmen have participated in these rotations since 2012.

Story by Jennifer Green-Lanchoney, 86th Airlift Wing/Public Affairs

Photo by photo by Airman Edgar Grimaldo

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Air Force Refines Pilot Candidate Selection Process in Support of Rated Diversity

Wednesday, September 22nd, 2021

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas — Several Air Education and Training Command initiatives to remove barriers for qualified candidates in the pilot candidate selection process were highlighted in the Air Force’s six-month assessment of its initial Racial Disparity Report Sept. 9.

Pilot Candidates may now:

– Use their highest composite scores from any Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT) rather than the most current score.

– Complete the Test of Basic Aviation Skills (TBAS) up to three times, with the third requiring a waiver from the applicant’s wing commander or equivalent.

– Re-take the AFOQT and TBAS after 90 days compared to the previous 150-day requirement for the AFOQT and 180 days for the TBAS.

– Participate in study sessions with other individuals who have not yet taken the test if the examinee has also never taken the AFOQT.

These changes came after extensive research conducted by the pilot selection process working group responsible for identifying potential barriers while upholding the standards of excellence in the Pilot Candidate Selection Method (PCSM) used since 1993.

“Our studies concluded that these changes will result in more qualified candidates of underrepresented groups being selected for training,” said Lt. Col. Brandi King, the working group’s Air Education and Training Command lead.

Prior flying experience a barrier to qualification

Prior flying experience, the second largest component of an applicant’s PCSM score, particularly poses a socioeconomic barrier to candidates without access to or financial means to pay for flying lessons. To address this barrier, the Air Force now considers only a candidate’s initial 60 flight hours when scoring a candidate.

“There is no evidence that more than 61 hours of flight experience poses a significant benefit to pilot training success,” said Dr. Katie Gunther, chief of strategic research and assessment at the Air Force Personnel Center. “The probability of success in flight training increases substantially from 0 hours to 60 hours, then relatively plateaus.”

The working group also found that removing the higher ranges of flight hours as part of the PCSM score would result in a more-diverse applicant pool. According to the Validation of the Pilot Candidate Selection Method 2020 report prepared by the AFPC Strategic Research and Assessment branch, removing the four highest ranges of flight hour codes would have resulted in 69 more Hispanic, 47 more female, and 26 more Black/African-American qualified applicants over a 12-year period.

“Flying lessons are expensive and could potentially exclude qualified candidates from becoming pilots in the Air Force due to limited income or lack of opportunities,” said Brig. Gen. Brenda Cartier, AETC’s Director of Operations and Communications and the pilot selection process working group’s overall lead. “In order to ensure we do not eliminate otherwise qualified candidates, flight programs have been implemented at both The United States Air Force Academy and the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps. Cadets receive free ground and flight training, and an opportunity to gain critical skills and directly improve their competiveness for pilot selection boards.”

Pilot selection process

A PCSM score quantifies a pilot candidate’s predicted aptitude for success at undergraduate pilot training. This score is comprised of the AFOQT and TBAS scores, previous flying experience, and other “whole-person concept” merits such as grade point average, physical fitness assessment scores and class ranking.

“Data supports that the PCSM is the best single predictor of pilot training completion. However, it is imperative that we continue re-evaluating our selection methods and remove barriers that hinder rated diversity without compromising test integrity or lowering standards,” King said.

Posted in Air Force, Aviation, Press Release | 16 Comments »

AFWERX Drives Innovation Through Flightline Ops Challenge

Sunday, September 19th, 2021

TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFNS) —

Innovators and thought leaders from industry, academia and the federal government gathered at the AFWERX Innovation Hub in Las Vegas, Nevada, late last month to review technologies that will be a part of the Revolutionizing Flightline Operations AFWERX Challenge.

This effort is a sequel to last year’s Base of the Future Challenge championed by the Natural Disaster Recovery Program Management Office at Tyndall AFB.

The Air Force Civil Engineer Center’s NDR PMO has worked with AFWERX over the past two years to drive innovation and incorporate new technologies into the rebuild.

This challenge will help shape technologies that have potential for incorporation into the Flightline of the Future.

The team sought to engage individuals, startups, small businesses, large enterprises, academia and research labs to solve problems.

Lowell Usrey, NDR PMO Innovation Branch chief, challenged the cross-functional team to design the challenge.

“We are able to reach companies and innovators who have limited exposure to the Department of Defense and are able to bring new ideas to existing problem sets and that’s cool.” Usrey said.

The recent AFWERX challenge was the culmination of months of planning and a competitive evaluation with hundreds of participants. Solutions offered involved improvements to airfield and aircraft maintenance operations including autonomous technology, enabling data-driven decision-making and integrating advanced, smart airfield surfaces to strengthen the flightline and improve operations.

Developing an automated process to collect airfield surface data and use artificial intelligence to identify surface anomalies and damage is revolutionary, Usrey said. It would allow airfield managers to persistently monitor and track flightline conditions and plan more efficiently.

“It was exciting to collaborate on ways to leverage technology for our day-to-day work and overall mission on the airfield,” said Maj. Kayley Squire, Tyndall AFB airfield operations flight commander. “The solutions that surfaced are remarkable — and it was made even more rewarding by being able to show our Airmen that innovation and change is possible.”

The automated processes developed at the AFWERX Challenge can also improve aircraft maintenance operations.

“The technology shown during the AFWERX Challenge will completely transform aircraft maintenance operations,” said Lt. Col. Yogi Lebby, Advanced Concepts chief. “These new modernizing solutions will allow maintainers to be more proactive, document more effectively and drive efficiencies back into a maintainer’s day. The future is now and I’m excited to be part of the journey.”

Together with airfield operations and maintenance, flightline security was another focus of breakout sessions to identify areas for improvement.

Security tactics, techniques and procedures that were developed in a time when advanced technology was not available were discussed. To counter 21st century security concerns, modern solutions were shaped by the group. Proposed solutions included using some of the same technologies as airfield maintenance, like smart pavements, to help augment security operations. Facial recognition, detectable flightline access badges and other technologies could be incorporated into flightline features like pavements and lights to identify individuals on the flightline.

Because base defense is manpower intensive and subject to human error, incorporating technologies that shorten response times were discussed since they can more effectively counter any intrusion.

“The efforts of the entire team have set the stage for remarkable capabilities that will outlive their time within their current occupation,” said Maj. Jordan Criss, 325th Security Forces Squadron commander. “It’s setting our future Airmen up for success and honoring the U.S. Air Force tradition of innovation, flexibility and strategic vision.”

Improved communications connectivity across the flightline and integrated processes were also recommended to improve flightline operations.

Because some Air Force procedures have not always kept pace with technology, improved communications and integrated processes can help manage workflow, optimize aircraft scheduling and establish better supply linkages, Usrey said.

“Having civil engineers and airfield operations working together to tackle common issues we face on the airfield with new and innovative solutions was truly something special,” said Lt. Col. Robert Bouffard, a Pentagon executive officer. “They all had the common goal of increasing mission effectiveness.”

AFWERX is a collaborative structure — partially based on the structure of Air Force Special Operations Command – that gives the Air Force a way to reach out and engage with businesses, organizations and academia around the world.

By Don Arias, Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center Public Affairs

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Happy 74th Birthday US Air Force

Saturday, September 18th, 2021

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Answering the Call: Special Tactics Airmen Conclude Haiti Earthquake Relief Efforts

Saturday, September 18th, 2021

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla.– Special Tactics Airmen assigned to the 24th Special Operations Wing concluded their response to augment humanitarian aid efforts in Haiti on Sept. 2, 2021 following a 7.2 magnitude earthquake, which hit the country Aug. 14.

The Special Tactics Airmen were alerted on the morning of Aug. 16 that they would augment Joint Task Force-Haiti relief efforts. With the help of C-146A Wolfhound aircrews, assigned to the 492nd and 919th Special Operations Wings, the team touched down in Port Au Prince, Haiti within 36 hours.

“We landed at Port Au Prince and were pretty removed from the epicenter of the earthquake, but once we got out to certain areas that had been cut off by the earthquake and seeing the MEDEVAC patients coming in at Port Au Prince that were suffering from crush injuries…it definitely hit home,” said the Special Tactics Officer and lead for the ST response team. “It peaked our awareness for the severity of the situation and need for assistance. It made us eager to get out to the landing zones for us to start doing our part and hopefully establish an airfield so we could bring out more supplies to those people.”

The Special Tactics team, consisting of five combat controllers and one pararescueman, were primarily responsible for surveying Jeremie and Les Cayes airfields for suitability of landing fixed wing aircraft. The airfields were located in parts of the country that had been cut off by landslides and damaged roads from a storm following the earthquake. The operators quickly assessed the landing zones, conducted a proof of concept by successfully landing a C-146A at one of the airfields and made recommendations to JTF-Haiti. However, while performing this task, the Special Tactics team was strategically positioned and equipped to assist in an emergency scenario.

“While we were conducting our survey at Les Cayes, some [non-government organization] members came up to us and mentioned there were some patients a 10 minute flight away in the mountains,” said the STO. “There were two children with crush injuries that needed to get medical attention immediately and we were able to dynamically task our forces at that survey site to coordinate with JTF-Haiti, the aircrew and work with the NGO to find the exact location of those patients and evacuate them to a higher level of care.”

In addition to being positioned and ready for medical evacuations, the team worked to assist Haitian air traffic controllers providing advisory calls in different areas and assisted with deliveries of humanitarian aid supplies in more than 10 remote locations across the country.

“You see the kids running up and obviously they’re excited to see you and to see the U.S. military because they know we’re going to help,” said the STO. “I’m super thankful for the opportunity and proud that my team was a part of it and that we were able to do a multitude of things to help get the aid and supplies needed to the people of Haiti.”

The humanitarian mission also served as a training opportunity for the team in interoperability and how to collaborate with several organizations trying to achieve the same goal by maximizing everyone’s capabilities.

“It was a very educational experience working alongside not only joint partners from the DOD, as well as USAID, the lead agency for the relief efforts,” said the STO. “We got to learn what they did and they got to learn what we do. The big takeaway for Special Tactics is our flexibility and the different capabilities we bring to a problem set like humanitarian aid disaster relief. We were there to conduct surveys and were prepared to establish airfields, receive aircraft, land them and deliver supplies in an expeditious manner. When circumstances changed, we were able to conduct a MEDEVAC as well as go out alongside other entities and help facilitate their mission using our tools and capabilities. We were able to be pretty dynamic.”

In recent years, Special Tactics Airmen alongside other Air Force Special Operations Command units have responded to several natural disasters including Hurricanes Eta and Iota in Honduras, Hurricane Michael in Florida and Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana.

Special Tactics Airmen train constantly to execute global access, precision strike, personnel recovery and battlefield surgery operations across the spectrum of conflict and crisis. As experts in air-ground integration, ST Airmen have the ability to assess, open, and control major airfields to clandestine dirt strips as well as lead complex rescue operations in any environment.

For more information on Air Force Special Tactics visit our website, www.airforcespecialtactics.af.mil

By By Capt Alejandra Fontalvo, 24th SOW, PAO

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Teaching the Commando New Tricks

Friday, September 17th, 2021

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. —

The C-130J is an incredibly versatile aircraft, and since it’s creation, it’s landed on rough fields, in arctic locations and even an aircraft carrier Yet, it cannot land on water, which covers about 71% of the planet. As national strategic objectives shift focus to littoral regions, Air Force Special Operations Command is advancing new approaches to expand the multi-mission platform’s runway independence and expeditionary capacity.

In partnership with the Air Force Research Lab’s Strategic Development Planning and Experimentation (AFRL-SDPE) directorate, AFSOC is developing an MC-130J Commando II Amphibious Capability (MAC) to improve the platform’s support of seaborne special operations. “The development of the MAC capability is the culmination of multiple lines of effort,” said Lt Col Josh Trantham, AFSOC Science, Systems, Technology, & Innovation (SST&I) Deputy Division Chief. “This capability allows the Air Force to increase placement and access for infiltration, exfiltration, and personnel recovery, as well as providing enhanced logistical capabilities for future competition and conflict.”

The development of a removable amphibious float modification for an MC-130J would enable “runway independent” operations, which, according to Trantham, would extend the global reach and survivability of the aircraft and Air Commandos. “Seaborne operations offer nearly unlimited water landing zones providing significant flexibility for the Joint Force,” Trantham said.

Utilizing the MAC capability may provide unlimited operational access to waterways to distribute forces if land assets are compromised.

“MAC is vital to future success because it will allow for the dispersal of assets within a Joint Operations Area,” said Maj Kristen Cepak, AFSOC Technology Transition Branch Chief. “This diaspora complicates targeting of the aircraft by our adversaries and limits aircraft vulnerability at fixed locations.”

A task force of industry partners are closely collaborating with AFSOC and AFRL-SDPE to bring the vision to life. A five-phase rapid prototyping schedule will lead to an operational capability demonstration in only 17 months while de-risking the concept for a future potential MAC program of record that could field MAC for MC-130Js but also potentially field a similar amphibious capability for other C-130 variants with only minor variations.

AFSOC and private sector counterparts are currently testing MAC prototypes through digital design, virtual reality modeling (VR), and computer-aided designs (CAD) in a virtual setting known as the Digital Proving Ground (DPG), paving the way for digital simulation, testing, and the use of advanced manufacturing for rapid prototyping and physical prototype testing.

According to Trantham and Cepak, the DPG can deliver mission review, aircraft system analysis, design ideation, engineering risk-reduction, virtual reality, concept imagery, feasibility studies, and other deliverables.

“Being able to experiment with existing technology to evaluate design tradeoffs and test a new system before ever bending metal is a game-changer,” Cepak said. “AFSOC is evolving and experimenting in a smart way to reduce technical risk and deliver capability to the field more rapidly and efficiently than before.”

According to Trantham, while the MAC project demonstrates rapid capability development for AFSOC, the Air Force and the Total Force will also benefit.

“We believe MAC will be able to be used by our sister services, allies, and partners on various C-130 platforms,” he said. “Further, expanding the operational use of an amphibious aircraft alongside other innovative tools will provide even more complex dilemmas in future battlespaces for our strategic competitors.”

By SSgt Brandon Esau, AFSOC Public Affairs

Posted in Air Force, Aviation, Guest Post, Maritime, SOF | 11 Comments »