TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. —  

For the National Football League, teams are required to have a handful of captains before the start of the season and these team leaders are elected by their peers to ensure their teammates’ jobs are performed at the highest level and that there is accountability during a long, tough football season.

Similarly, a Contingency Response Team (CRT) Chief is elected by their peers to lead a group of highly specialized Airmen and ensure team mission success during tough training exercises and deployments.   

A CRT normally denotes the size of the team deploying, consisting normally between 15-25 Airmen, whereas a Contingency Response Element (CRE) consists of more than 100 Airmen.

To become a Contingency Response Team Chief, an Airman must successfully complete six tasks:

• Complete an application called a Command Job Qualification Standard
• Complete landing zone safety officer training,
• Complete drop zone controller/safety officer training
• Complete a contingency response mission planning course
• Complete a mobile command and control communication (C3) operations course.
• Lead a mission away from their duty station

“A CRE Commander and CRT Chief have similar responsibilities because both can have final mission authority and makes decisions not explicitly assigned to higher-level authority,” Tech. Sgt. Travis Urquhart, 921st Contingency Response Squadron operations expeditor and Exercise Turbo Distribution 25-2 CRT Chief in-training said.

Urquhart is one of two CRT Chiefs in-training to be certified during Exercise Turbo Distribution 25-2, which is a U.S. Transportation Command-led exercise taking place in August at multiple locations.

Turbo Distribution is a Joint Task Force-Port Opening exercise designed to train personnel to rapidly respond to humanitarian aid/disaster response missions around the world. 

“Additionally, the CRE Commander, or CRT Chief, can be the primary liaison with the host nation, coalition or other U.S. forces, the supported command and/or controlling agency,” Urquhart stated. “Unless otherwise indicated, the CRE Commander or CRT Chief may delegate specific duties to other team members as necessary, but in a nutshell, you are responsible for leading a team in the planning, deploying, redeploying and reconstituting a team at any austere airfield around the world.”

For Exercise TD 25-2, 20 CR Airmen from the 821st Contingency Response Squadron and 921st CRS are participating as part of a CRT which provides aerial port capabilities, conducts airfield assessments and determines the suitability and feasibility of the airfield and landing zones in support of air operations immediately upon arrival at Fort Hunter-Liggett in Jolon, California.

If Exercise TD 25-2 were a football game, the most important position on the field is the quarterback, which would be CRT Chief on location, and the goal, similar to winning the game, is to have mission success upon returning home.

“I left my career field as a boom operator to be in CR,” Urquhart shared. “Now I get to lead highly specialized teams as a CRT Chief and that will open the door to different deployment opportunities and perspectives that I didn’t have before as a boom operator.”

How an Airman becomes selected to become a CRT Chief is actually quite simple. The position is only open for the rank of Technical Sergeant and Master Sergeant. If they are labeled as 1A1 flyers, they will need to step away from their primary mission designation, just like how Urquhart did, to join the 621st Contingency Response Wing for three years in order to become a CRT Chief. Most importantly, these applicants must have demonstrated and excelled at previous leadership positions in order to even be considered.

Finally, CRT Chiefs must complete three field exercises: an observational exercise of a fully qualified team chief, an instructor-assisted exercise to learn how to perform the duties of a CRT chief, and lastly, an evaluation exercise where they are observed by a qualified CRT Chief.

By SSgt Scott Warner, 621st Contingency Response Wing

SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands —  

The 11th Air Task Force became the first U.S. Air Force air task force to deploy in July, starting with its participation in exercise Resolute Force Pacific (REFORPAC), the Air Force’s largest contingency response exercise in the Pacific, in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands.

Based in Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona, the 11 ATF is one of six task forces activated across the Air Force in 2024. It is composed of about 350 Airmen from a handful of units, including Davis-Monthan; Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada; and Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico.

The 11 ATF has spent the last nine months completing training requirements in an expedited Air Force Force Generation cycle, which is built to enable Airmen to train and exercise together before being operationally employed together as part of a team. This is a change from how the Air Force traditionally has filled deployment billets, when Airmen were pulled from bases across the force and often didn’t meet until they arrived downrange.

According to U.S. Air Force Col. Brett Cassidy, 11 ATF commander, the ability to train together during deliberate field training exercises and unit events was a critical factor in the team’s mission readiness when they arrived on the field.

“It was a unique opportunity for the team to come together over the entire year to get to know one another, dive into the challenges on the ground here immediately and tackle them with success, because we had that background built up over the previous year of training,” Cassidy said. “We were ready and capable as soon as we arrived to get right into the mission.”

REFORPAC served as the 11 ATF’s final 400-level certifying exercise, allowing the 11 ATF to utilize all its training as a team before continuing the rest of its six-month deployment in the Pacific. Conducted through the month of July, REFORPAC was part of the first-in-a-generation Department-Level Exercise series, a new way the Air Force is exercising to conduct large operations in contested, dynamic environments. The aim was to improve interoperability and multilateral cooperation, leading to a stronger, more capable, deterrent force.

The DLE series encompasses all branches of the Department of Defense, along with allies and partners, employing approximately 400 U.S. and coalition aircraft and more than 12,000 members at more than 50 locations spanning 3,000 miles.

During the exercise, the 11 ATF, alongside the 11th Combat Air Base Squadron, supported the 563rd Rescue Group’s efforts as a mission generation force element. Their mission was twofold:provide Command and Control and base operating support-integration. This included logistics, operational setup, special staff functions such as the chaplain and medical support, security forces, airfield management and more.

All these teams came together to prepare for and react to exercise mission injects that ranged from a simulated downed F-22 pilot to a simulated Small Unmanned Aircraft System attack that knocked out part of the task force’s communication system, forcing members to implement contingency plans to ensure critical actions were still taken and relayed to the broader team.

Building from the ground up with the aid of local contractors and partners, the 11 ATF established internet communications within hours and supported aerial missions within days. Airmen also integrated with local authorities to utilize a civilian runway, enabling the 563rd RQG’s HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopters and HC-130J Combat King II aircraft to land and take off whenever necessary.

Another challenge was the sheer distance involved in some of the exercise injects, especially when the 563rd RQG was tasked with supporting efforts off the island.

“When we look at the long distances in the Pacific, the huge range that’s require for logistics and sustainment, it was a unique opportunity for our Airmen to work really dynamic problems in more isolated, austere locations over these long distances,” Cassidy said. “They had to figure out how to make the mission work in this large integrated whole of hundreds of aircraft and thousands of Airmen working through this contingency scenario.”

Besides the exercise injects and other training, 11 CABS Airmen also dealt with real-world challenges that included a tropical storm, a tsunami warning and a responding to humanitarian scenarios.

Ultimately, REFORPAC refined the 11 ATF’s ability to execute dispersed operations and generate airpower under challenging conditions, while giving its Airmen the chance to practice the Mission Ready Airman concept.

“The Mission Ready Airman concept is about trust,” said U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Sharreen Taylor, 11 ATF command chief. “It goes back to that teaming concept, where the Airmen have gotten to work together, learn how to trust each other and then really jump in. Airmen work together, building trust and taking initiative. They don’t wait to be told what to do; they proactively step up and fill in where they’re needed.”

Taylor pointed to several instances of Airmen stepping out of their primary job duties throughout REFORPAC, from finance Airmen helping establish a perimeter fence to airfield management Airmen helping with logistics. This also occurred as the 11 ATF integrated with squadrons from the 563rd RQG as Airmen from both groups worked together to solve problems and achieve the mission.

“Our Airmen nailed it during REFORPAC,” Taylor said. “We were able to come into an environment that we’ve never been in, and set up a camp in minimal time, along with a complete communication structure. Every task our Airmen were given, they succeeded; they were ready to overcome any contingency. They truly embraced the Mission Ready Airmen concept, and they truly embraced the things that the Air Force asked us to do.”

The 11th ATF’s role in REFORPAC highlighted its ability to function as a deployable, self-sustaining force, showcasing its adaptability and capability to operate similarly to a traditional Air Force wing. REFORPAC also gave the Department of the Air Force the chance to see air task forces in action, especially as the 11 ATF practiced Agile Combat Employment in a dispersed, austere environment. ATFs, which replace the Expeditionary Air Base model, are the next evolution of the Air Force’s progress toward the Deployable Combat Wing and a significant milestone in the Air Force’s journey toward modernization and readiness to ensure and maintain a competitive advantage over the pacing challenge.

“Air task forces like the 11 ATF are critical because they help us glean the lessons and observations necessary to continue improving our force generation concepts, ultimately helping make sure that the future combat wings are designed and ready to get after missions that help our joint forces and joint commanders who need them in the theater,” Cassidy said. “We’re not going to get it perfectly right as we work through these iterations, but we’re moving forward, and we’re doing it in a way that’s going to pull lessons for the Air Force at a critical time when we need to make sure that the Air Force is continuing to shift forward and be prepared for the next major contingency.”

By 2nd Lt Grace Brandt, 11 ATF

When Lt. Col. Sarah Bodenheimer, commander of the 355th Civil Engineer Squadron, was tasked with leading the Civil Engineering effort behind the Air Force’s Combat Air Base Squadron, there was no blueprint, only a concept. In less than a year, a first-of-its-kind unit had to be created from the ground up.

“We didn’t know what would work, but we knew we had to try,” Bodenheimer recalled. With no precedent to follow, she forged the way forward. “I made sure the team knew that the ‘do nothing’ course of action wasn’t an option.”

The CABS model brings together a cross-functional team spanning multiple specialties, all trained from the start to operate as one lean, agile, deployable element. “Traditional base operating support models weren’t built for the speed or posture demanded by today’s pacing threat,” Bodenheimer explained. “This unit is designed to project airpower from austere, contested environments quickly, independently, and with precision.”

Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, was chosen to stand up the 11th CABS unit in 2024. As planning progressed, the team had to define structure, mission tasks, and readiness requirements. Establishing a dedicated CE CABS flight became the clearest path to meeting the demands of the new concept.

For Bodenheimer, the mission wasn’t just about building the structure, it was about empowering the people she led. Her role was to provide the ‘why’ and trust her team to execute, shouldering the institutional risk so they had the space to try, fail, and innovate. “If it’s successful, it’s all you. If something goes wrong, it’s all me,” she said. “I took this risk. I own it.”

She cultivated an environment where every Airman had a voice and a stake in the outcome—essential for blending individuals from different backgrounds and specialties into a cohesive team. Leadership wasn’t reserved for rank. “You don’t have to have all the answers to lead,” she emphasized. “Be honest, be clear about what matters, and don’t be afraid to make a call when others are frozen.”

Bodenheimer credits her parents with shaping the values that guide her leadership and work ethic. “They set the foundation: hard work, humility, and doing the right thing even when no one is watching.” She also comes from a family with deep military roots, including a grandfather in the Air Force, a grandfather in the Marines, and a Marine cousin who was critically wounded in Iraq.

That foundation was refined over the years by mentors, both in and out of uniform, who helped shape her leadership philosophy. “I’ve had leaders who taught me the importance of clarity, presence, and owning the impact you have on others,” she said. “At the end of the day, they all taught me to empower and take care of your people. Everything else will follow.”

Bodenheimer and her CE leads wrote new Concepts of Operations, established initial Standard Operating Procedures, identified training requirements, and navigated coordination with Major Commands and Combatant Commands stakeholders. She selected Airmen for the 11th CABS not just based on specialty, but on mindset and potential, forming a team with a balance of technical expertise and leadership capacity. Many junior members stepped into leadership roles for the first time—and delivered.

Standing up the unit also meant pulling 48 personnel from the 355th Civil Engineer Squadron, all while daily operations at Davis-Monthan continued without pause. Those who remained shouldered the extra weight, and it was important to Bodenheimer that they knew their work was essential to the larger mission. “That kind of quiet excellence often gets overlooked,” she noted. “But not by me.”

For Bodenheimer, success wasn’t measured by perfection, but by progress. Looking ahead, she doesn’t see what they built as a finished product, but as the beginning of something larger. “Are we getting it perfect? Who knows,” she said. “But I know the 355th CES Airmen on that team are doing everything they can to find a path and lead the way.”

She also views the effort as a long-term commitment to the CE enterprise and to the future of deployed operations. “I believe deeply in CE’s role as an enabler of airpower,” Bodenheimer emphasized. “Getting this right meant giving the Air Force a credible, deployable solution for base ops in the pacing threat environment. It also meant getting it right for our future CE Airmen who will be on the front lines of the next conflict. That mattered.”

Bodenheimer hopes that when all is said and done, her Airmen remember that she had their back. That she expected a lot but gave just as much. And, that she cared about the mission, but cared more about the people doing it. “I pushed them to lead boldly and think bigger because they’re capable of more than they realize.”

The construct of CABS will continue to evolve. The people may change, and the structure may shift. But when there was no blueprint, Bodenheimer helped draw the first lines and ensured her team had the trust, clarity, and support needed to succeed.

“We didn’t just prove the concept, we made it operational,” Bodenheimer said proudly. “We took theory and turned it into reality.”

Story by Alexandra Broughton 

Headquarters Air Force, Office of the Director of Civil Engineers