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What’s In A Number: How The Air Force Catalogs Its B-2 Spirit Pilots

Sunday, July 17th, 2022

WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. —

The B-2 Spirit cadre of highly skilled pilots are a part of an exclusive community, which is highlighted by the way the Air Force catalogs these impressive men and women in the history books.

Every B-2 pilot goes through Initial Qualification Training at Whiteman Air Force Base to learn how to fly the most technologically-advanced strategic bomber in the world. Once the IQT students have gone through hundreds of hours of academics and training in the B-2 simulators, they are finally able to put their skills to the test and take-off for their first flight. Following their first flight, each pilot receives a Spirit Number, which cements their place in history.

Former B-2 pilot and Spirit Number 78, Frank Cavuoti, explains a Spirit Number is a sequential number that is assigned only to a person who has flown in the B-2 Spirit. This tradition of using a numbering system originated with the first stealth aircraft, the F-117 Nighthawk, which used the Bandit Number.

“Each program realized there would be a very limited number of assigned pilots and sensed a need to catalogue that history and legacy,” said Cavuoti, now Detachment 5, 29 Training Systems Squadron, B-2 senior program analyst. “These are one-of-a-kind numbers, like a numerical fingerprint that are unique and will only be assigned once and never reused.”

After 33 years, there are only 550 B-2 pilots who have been assigned a Spirit Number. The tradition began on July 17, 1989, when two B-2 test pilots, Bruce Hinds, Spirit Number 1, and Col. Rick Couch, Spirit Number 2, piloted the first B-2 flight from Plant 42 in Palmdale, CA to Edwards Air Force Base.

Spirit Numbers are not only assigned to pilots, however. Others who are given the rare opportunity to fly in the B-2 Spirit are also awarded their own number. This catalog of numbers features an impressive line-up, including cabinet-level secretaries, senior military leaders, members of Congress, as well as award-winning enlisted military members.

Tech. Sgt. Elizabeth Lambert, 509th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron crew chief, received an incentive flight in the B-2 Spirit and Spirit Number 760 after being awarded the Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Thomas N. Barnes Award and 509th Bomb Wing Crew Chief of the Year.

“It’s an honor to be one of the few, still less than 800 people, to receive a Spirit Number,” said Tech. Sgt. Lambert. “This is a once in a life time opportunity and I love that I get to be a part of history. Being the first female enlisted crew chief to fly in the B-2 was incredible.”

Throughout history, there have been many unique ways pilots distinguish themselves, from unit patches to call signs; however, the Spirit Number brings a whole new level of connection to something bigger.

“To a B-2 pilot, the Spirit Number represents a shared sense of connection to a very special program and signifies the spirit, pride, tradition, heritage and esprit de corps shared among the very few fellow B-2 Spirit pilots,” said Cavuoti. “They all know the awesome responsibility and privilege of flying a national asset of unspeakable power and being ready anytime, anywhere. They all know they are not just pilots who fly the B-2 … but that they are B-2 Pilots.”

Story by Chelsea Ecklebe, 509th Bomb Wing Public Affairs

Photos by SrA Christina Carter

Posted in Air Force, Forces Focus, Guest Post | 1 Comment »

New Data Warfare Company Activates as Beacon of Innovation for XVIII Airborne Corps

Saturday, July 16th, 2022

FORT BRAGG, N.C. – The Data Warfare Company (DWC), Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, XVIII Airborne Corps, was officially activated on June 1, 2022 during a ceremony at Fort Bragg, N.C.

This innovative unit was specifically requested by Lt. Gen. Christopher T. Donahue, the commanding general of the XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg as America’s Contingency Corps continues to build on a culture of innovation.

The activation of the DWC will set conditions for an enduring force structure across the U.S. Army which allows and empowers units to provide data-centric problem solving to enable command and control and develop tools to improve how the XVIII Airborne Corps fights.

One of the main missions of the company is to leverage the unique skill sets from Soldiers across the Corps to assist with the use of artificial intelligence to enable Corps initiatives.

“The DWC allows individuals taking on different projects within the Corps and actually operationalizing them,” said Capt. Christopher Clarkin, the unit’s commander. “One of the biggest hurdles we find in a large organization like the Corps, is how to take people from small units who have specific issues that only they see, but are important because they help fulfill the Corps’ mission.

Some of the current capabilities of the unit include Soldiers who have skills such as software engineers, program managers, cloud engineers, innovation officers, and who understand digital infrastructure. The unit is currently small compared to traditional Army companies but will be growing and improving as more inbound personnel arrive this summer.

Soldiers in the DWC recently put these capabilities on display when they were called upon to provide support for our European Allies and partners with critical software for warfighting systems.

Many of the Soldiers within the unit are also trained software engineers who are graduates of the TRON program.

TRON is an intensive 12-week software development program teaching critical skills in software engineering to Soldiers by providing them access to various tools and education. The course is a collaboration between the Corps, Joint Special Operations Command and the U.S. Air Force, to send Soldiers through the program to enhance the ability of the Soldiers who get assigned to the DWC and help the Corps achieve its mission.

“The establishment of the DWC is a focal point that will allow the Corps to achieve its vision,” said Lt. Col. Jeremy D. Lawhorn, the commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, XVIII Airborne Corps. “Capt. Christopher Clarkin has been specifically selected to command this company based on his requisite knowledge both in leading and in innovating. I can think of no other person to lead this company.”

The XVIII Airborne Corps is on the leading edge of innovation within the U.S. Army Forces Command and always seeking improvement. In order to remain at the forefront of innovation, the Army must become more agile and adaptable.

The DWC allows for faster innovation maintaining the advantage as we fight and win the nation’s wars.

“Innovation is a top priority for our Corps commander,” Lawhorn said. “Creating this company represents the Corps’ acknowledgment that we must innovate or become irrelevant . As America’s Contingency Corps, we have a moral obligation to the people we serve and the organization to innovate. To prepare our Soldiers, Army Civilians and Families, to ensure that we can deploy, fight, win, survive and thrive.”

The U.S Army is an army in transition that must win in the current environment and build for the future. Everyone, regardless of rank, is empowered to solve problems and identify opportunities to improve how we fight and how we take care of our Soldiers, Civilians, and Families.

Units like the DCW highlight the XVIII Airborne Corps’ dedication to foster and sustain an innovative culture while capturing initiatives that will continually improve the U.S. Army as a whole.

Story by SPC Joshua Cowden
Photos by Nathaniel Gayle

Posted in Army, Forces Focus, Guest Post | Comments Off on New Data Warfare Company Activates as Beacon of Innovation for XVIII Airborne Corps

Red Team: Reserve Marines Simulate Cyberspace Attackers In Exercise Cyber Yankee 22

Sunday, July 10th, 2022

CAMP NETT, Conn. —

Cyber warfare is defined as the use of computer technology to disrupt the activities of a state or organization, especially the deliberate attack or defense of information systems for strategic or military purposes. If a successful cyber-attack was directed at a power utility grid, it would have the ability to cut off electricity and running water. In response to this potential threat, service members from all branches of the United States military work alongside industry professionals to simulate an attack and defense of the northeastern power grid and transmission system.

“The transmission system is just a bigger version of what you have in your house,” said. Jason LaDuke, a Company CEO of the electrical enclave. “It’s like a circuit breaker, but a much, much bigger system. So power flowing into a city is flowing over a specific line. If you could close those breakers you would effectively cut off power to the transmission system.”

Reserve Marines from Defensive Cyberspace Operations-Internal Defensive Measures Company B, 6th Communication Battalion, and Marines from the newly created Marine Innovation Unit (MIU), joined their active duty counterparts from 8th Communication Battalion, with help from a subject matter expert from Marine Cyber Auxiliary to participate in exercise Cyber Yankee June 13-17 2022 Camp Nett, Conn.

“Cyber Yankee is a joint effort between the national guards of the New England states. They try to build up their capabilities and respond to any attacks to the critical infrastructure in New England while building a partnership between the National Guard, industry partners and the other branches of the United States military,” said Lance Cpl. Miles Young, a data systems administrator for Defensive Cyberspace Operations-Internal Defensive Measures (DCO-IDM) Company B, 6th Communication Battalion. “The Marine Corps role in this is to simulate an attacker so that the defense can clearly evaluate how they are doing.”

During Cyber Yankee, the service members are divided up into red teams and blue teams, with the Marines participating as the red team. The red team acts as an attacking force while the blue team tries to defend their network.

“This exercise is red versus blue. This emulates four different threat actors that leverage the cyber kill chain to meet their end states.”

MSgt Mike McAllister, cyberspace operations chief, MIU

“Each one of the four actors have different end state objectives. They vary in levels of sophistication from a cyber-criminal or hacktivist that is doing nothing more than low risk access attempts that can be mitigated by very simple security controls and elevate all the way up to the most advanced threat act or using sophisticated means of initiating access with stealthy movement throughout the IT enclave and into the operational technology enclave where the critical infrastructure is located,” said Master Sgt. Mike McAllister, cyberspace operations chief, Marine Innovation Unit.

Cyber Yankee is currently the only exercise of its kind.

“Training like this event is hard to come by. It’s rare and there are no other exercises that take it to this level. The power grid is a very complex system. It’s essentially one of the biggest machines on the planet when you look at it all together. This exercise really drives that complication element because it is so fast paced and high energy similar to what would take place in a real attack,” explained LaDuke.

The ability for Reserve Marines to integrate with Active Component Marines and service members from other branches provided a valuable training experience as the potential threat of cyber warfare continues to evolve.

“Marines participate in regional exercises and provide red team capabilities to the Joint Force Reserve, National Guards, and industry professionals [as they] interface for regional utilities which means we’re going in and helping the blue teams refine their play books so if they are called to support utility companies or in disasters of cyber nature,” said Staff Sgt. Sean Sarich, an innovation laboratory specialist at Marine Innovation Unit.

The Reserve Marines from MIU also played an important role in Cyber Yankee 2022 and plan to continue to support similar exercises to bring in additional talent and subject matter expertise from the cyber and developmental support occupational fields. MIU leverages existing talent in the Marine Corps Reserve to address advanced technology challenges in order to accelerate the development of new capabilities. MIU houses coders who have the potential to bring a new skillset and in-depth challenges to the exercise.

“It’s good for us to participate in this exercise because it’s important for us to build our technical skills defending this kind of network because the critical infrastructure power and water have very specific systems most people don’t have experience defending,” said Young. “We get the opportunity to sharpen our skill sets and expand our knowledge.”

LCpl Ashley Corbo, Marine Corps Forces Reserves

Posted in CEMA, Forces Focus, Guest Post, USMC | Comments Off on Red Team: Reserve Marines Simulate Cyberspace Attackers In Exercise Cyber Yankee 22

US Marines Redesignate Littoral Combat Team, Realign Combat Logistics Battalion Under Marine Littoral Regiment

Monday, July 4th, 2022

MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII —

The U.S. Marine Corps redesignated 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines as the 3rd Littoral Combat Team and realigned Combat Logistics Battalion 3 under the 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment during two ceremonies held here June 23 and 24, 2022.

These actions, along with the activation of the 3rd Littoral Anti-Air Battalion in February, advance the Marine Corps’ Force Design 2030 modernization effort and mark the complete assembly of the 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment’s subordinate units. While the 3rd MLR is not envisioned to be fully operational for several years, these milestones represent substantial progress toward that end.

“This is a significant moment in Marine Corps history,” stated Col. Timothy S. Brady, commanding officer, 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment. “This transformation began two years ago when the Commandant of the Marine Corps laid out his guidance for the force of the future in Force Design 2030. Force Design 2030 is not static. We will continue to change and adapt through experimentation and training. We’ve been doing it since 1775, and nobody does it better than the United States Marines.”

The 3rd LCT will be organized, trained, and equipped to support sea control and sea denial operations in actively contested maritime spaces. The unit is purpose-built to integrate with naval platforms and units and to enable joint and allied organizations. 3rd LCT will conduct reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance, employ and enable multi-domain fires, and establish expeditionary sites to support a naval expeditionary force’s maritime campaign across the competition continuum.

“We are ready for the future; we are ready to train. We are showing up, ready to enhance the MLR’s number one priority; warfighting.”

-LtCol Osman Sesay, commanding officer, Combat Logistics Battalion 3

The 3rd LCT is organized with a headquarters company, three infantry companies, and a medium missile battery. When fully equipped, the medium missile battery will enable the Marine Littoral Regiment to target and strike maritime targets with anti-surface fires or provide battlefield intelligence to other platforms across the joint force in support of naval objectives.

CLB-3 is organized and trained to provide tactical logistics and explosive ordnance disposal support to sustain the 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment’s operations. CLB-3 will conduct ground supply operations, ground equipment maintenance, explosive ordnance disposal, prepositioning supplies, general engineering operations, operational contract support, transporting supplies and equipment on land and from sea-based connectors, and provide health services.

“We are happy to join this new formation,” stated Lt. Col. Osman Sesay, commanding officer, Combat Logistics Battalion 3. “We are ready for the future; we are ready to train. We are showing up, ready to enhance the MLR’s number one priority: warfighting.”

The presence of 3rd MLR’s subordinate units allows for extensive training, experimentation, and wargaming. These units will continue to vigorously train, evaluate, adapt, and overcome to ensure the Marine Corps stays ready to fight on future battlefields.

“Through all of this change, one thing will always remain the same: our Warrior Ethos,” stated Col. Brady. “We are more lethal today than we have ever been in our history. We stand prepared and ready to fight now as part of the 3rd MLR and 3rd Marine Division.”

From July 1 to August 7, the 3rd MLR will participate in the Rim of the Pacific exercise, where it will conduct expeditionary advanced base operations in support of joint, allied, and partnered forces.

For additional information on the MLR, contact 1stLt Isaac Liston at Isaac.liston@usmc.mil.

Story by 1stLt Isaac Liston, 3rd Marine Division

Photos by Cpl Patrick King

Posted in Forces Focus, Guest Post, USMC | 1 Comment »

24 SOW Observes 10th Anniversary at Hurlburt

Sunday, July 3rd, 2022

Hurlburt Field, Fla. —

12 June marked the 10th anniversary of the 24 SOW at Hurlburt Field. The “at Hurlburt” is key here as the wing’s lineage dates back to its original establishment as the US Army Air Forces 24th Composite Wing (Special) 19 November 1942 and activation on 25 December 1942. Upon activation at Camp Olympia, Reykjavik, the wing’s first mission involved the defense of Iceland during World War II through 15 June 1944. The wing’s original weapon systems included P-38, P-39 fighter aircraft (1942-43), and P-40 and P-47 fighter aircraft (1944-44).

Prior to activation at Hurlburt in 2012, the wing is best known for its many mission areas in the Caribbean and the Panama Canal Zone where it served many years as the host unit at both Howard and Albrook Air Force Bases. Between 1946 and 1948 the wing supervised large numbers of major and minor bases and Air Force units in the Caribbean area from Puerto Rico to British Guiana. Organized again in 1967 in the Canal Zone, the wing assumed operation and maintenance responsibilities for Howard and Albrook Air Force Bases (1967-1987 and 1989-1999) and special operations mission sets that included air transport, paramilitary operations, exercise participation, civic actions in Central and South America, search and rescue missions, humanitarian operations, mercy missions, aeromedical evacuation; as well as the support of Army Special Forces, U.S. military assistance units, and training of Latin American air forces. From activation in 1967 until mid-1972, the 24 Wing also operated the USAF Tropic Survival School at Albrook.

From 1992-1999, the wing operated as the senior USAF organization in Panama, replacing the previous command and division-level Air Force host units. In June 1992, it began operating the only C-21, CT-43, C-27, and special mission C-130s in Air Combat Command (ACC). The wing also provided mission command and support to multi-service units directed by United States Southern Command and United States Southern Air Force, 1992-1999. Mission areas included counternarcotics operations, aerial command and control, intra-theater airlift, security assistance, and the general defense of the Panama Canal. During 1999, the wing conducted base closures and unit inactivations in compliance with the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977 that stipulated all U.S. military forces would depart Panama by 31 December 1999.

With the 24 SOW’s activation at Hurlburt 10 years ago, AFSOC selected the “24” from the inactive scrolls of Air Force historical units because of its long history of and close association with nearly all special operations mission areas. From the mountaintops in Afghanistan to the depths of an infamous cave in Thailand, the 24 SOW conducted operations ranging from the fiercest types of combat to the purest forms of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

At activation, the 24 SOW kept its awesome lineage alive and, as importantly, it inherited the history of Air Force Special Tactics. After being activated at Hurlburt Field and assigned to Air Force Special Operations Command, the wing comprised of two Special Tactics groups, a training squadron, and operational squadrons with a mission to organize, train, and equip Special Warfare Airmen for rapid global employment to enable airpower success.

Since 2012, the 24 SOW has been an integral part of every major joint operation in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, Africa, Europe, and Pacific theaters of operation. Special Tactics, from its beginning, has provided global access capabilities inherent to no other unit in the Air Force or its sister services – capabilities absolutely essential to effective military operations. The 24 SOW also provides unique rapid deployment, precision strike, personnel recovery, special reconnaissance and battlefield surgery capabilities. Today the wing’s primary weapon system is not an aircraft weapon system typical in most Air Force wings. Today, and since 2012, the 24 SOW’s weapon system is the men and women who provide and sustain these capabilities for AFSOC and the Joint Force.

Since its activation 10 years ago, members of the wing and its predecessor unit, the 720th Special Tactics Group, have been recognized with our nation’s highest valor awards including the Medal of Honor, 12 Air Force Crosses, 57 Silver Stars, and hundreds of Bronze Stars. This level of individual recognition makes the 24 SOW the highest decorated community in the U.S. Air Force in the modern era. On this special anniversary of the 24 SOW at Hurlburt, the wing remains a forever reverent organization and honors its members who made the ultimate sacrifice in both training and combat. Perhaps the AFSOC commander Lt Gen James Slife stated it best, “Within AFSOC – and the Air Force writ-large – no group [has] paid a greater human toll and carried a heavier deployment burden of the last two decades than AFSOC’s Special Tactics Force.”

By Charlie Newell, 24 SOW Public Affairs

Posted in AFSW, Air Force, Forces Focus, Guest Post, History | Comments Off on 24 SOW Observes 10th Anniversary at Hurlburt

Army Re-Activates Historic Airborne Unit, Reaffirms Commitment to Arctic Strategy

Wednesday, June 15th, 2022

FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska – Several hundred Soldiers gathered in formation within the Alaskan Interior on a bright June morning Monday to take part in the activation of the 11th Airborne Division, posturing U.S. forces for strategic advantage in the harsh Arctic terrain.

The 11th Airborne Division unites about 12,000 Soldiers in Alaska under one flag, marking the first time that the Army has activated an airborne division in 70 years. During flag ceremonies Monday at Fort Wainwright and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, shortened as JBER, the Army also re-designated the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team and the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, formerly of the 25th Infantry Division, into the 1st and 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Teams of the 11th Airborne, respectively.

The activation reaffirms the Army’s commitment to its recently announced Arctic Strategy, which outlines the service’s plan to equip, organize and train with partner units to establish military dominance in the region. The division will be headquartered at JBER and members will wear the unit’s distinctive blue patch with a red and white emblem with angel wings to symbolize the unit’s call sign, “Angels.”

“Wherever you go, you will be the most highly trained, disciplined and fit Arctic warfighting unit in the world; ready to fight and win,” Army Chief of Staff, Gen. James C. McConville said to Soldiers at Fort Wainwright. “That is what you will do. That is who you are. We are counting on you.”

(Photo Credit: Photo by U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Patrick Sullivan)

The activation also serves another purpose. By uniting the Army units as one airborne unit, Army leaders hope the activation can ignite a greater a sense of camaraderie and enthusiasm for Soldiers serving in one of the U.S. military’s most remote and desolate locations.

In recent months, the Army’s senior leaders have met with commanders at Alaskan installations to address quality of life concerns of Soldiers. Assessments revealed that the previous unit designations did not support unit cohesion.

“Experience has told us that units that have a common unit identity is a source of pride,” McConville said during a meeting with reporters. “It’s extremely important. And the history of a unit and the patch matter.”

McConville said the Soldiers of the 11th Airborne Division will be equipped with cold weather gear within the next 1 to 2 years. He added that the unit will serve as the Army’s leading experts for Arctic military operations.

McConville said that the Stryker Brigade Combat Team based at Fort Wainwright will transition to become a more mobile, infantry-based brigade combat team bolstered with a stronger air assault capability and the skills to maneuver effectively in extreme cold weather environments.

McConville added that the Army plans to move the armored Strykers out of Alaska by the end of the summer as it continues the acquisition process of Cold Weather, All-Terrain Vehicles or CATVs.

The 11th Airborne Division originally played a critical role during World War II and the Vietnam War. The Army credits the unit with the amphibious assault landing at Luzon, Philippines, and eventually helped secure the liberation of Manila from Japanese forces.

“The 11th Airborne Division has a storied history of valor during World War II in the Pacific and also has a proud history of innovation,” McConville said. “So we expect them to live up to the legacy … We expect them to be masters of their craft in Arctic warfighting and extreme cold weather and high altitude and terrain. We expect them to develop innovative ways of operating in this environment.”

The Army now has a strategically located unit that can quickly deploy to any region, especially those in cold weather climates such as Nepal and India.

“Their focus will be on dismounted and Arctic mobility and capabilities of sustained operation in the Arctic [and] extreme cold weather,” said 11th Airborne Division Commander Maj. Gen. Brian Eifler. “In addition, they will providing those capabilities in other cold weather environments.”

Eifler added that U.S. Army Pacific Commander Gen. Charles A. Flynn traveled to Nepal to meet with Nepalese leaders on coordinating more training opportunities with U.S. Army infantry brigade combat teams. Eifler said that includes the possibility of taking part in a joint expedition on Mount Everest.

By Joe Lacdan, Army News Service

Posted in Army, Forces Focus, Guest Post, Parachuting | 12 Comments »

USAF’s ShOC-N Battle Lab Hosts Distributed Command and Control Event

Friday, June 10th, 2022

Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada — The 805th Combat Training Squadron’s Shadow Operations Center – Nellis, or ShOC-N, is the U.S. Air Force’s premier battle lab supporting the development, advancement, and maturation of key technologies and capabilities designed to compress the kill-chain for joint and coalition warfighters.

The ShOC-N accomplishes this mission by utilizing multi-domain, all-domain, and cross-domain solutions spanning all classification levels, working closely with key defense, industry, and sister services such as the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Missile Defense Agency, and the Defense Industrial Base.

In addition to hosting government sponsors and industry partners daily, the ShOC-N is helping to steer and evolve Joint Staff doctrine and guidance for all-domain and cross-domain solutions and capabilities by focusing on defining and developing instrumentation for data, networks, software, and air component-specific command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence, or C4I, warfighting processes.

Working closely with their wide range of mission partners, the ShOC-N is a vanguard unit on the frontlines of next-generation technologies for the USAF and Joint Staff. With key placement and access to Nellis AFB’s unique mission, the ShOC-N is providing a critical venue to advance and refined key technologies and showcase them to U.S. and coalition leadership in a tactically and operationally relevant setting – to see the technology working in a warfighter environment with real-world operators at the helm vice a clean lab with scientists only.

Normally, ShOC-N leverages existing exercises to meet mission requirements. But sometimes, when no other appropriate venue exists, the ShOC-N team will host its own organic event to advance and refine technologies. A recent example occurred at the end of April. The ShOC-N hosted an organic Distributed Command and Control Event simulating Agile Combat Employment utilizing new technologies available at the ShOC-N. The ShOC-N set up an austere location simulating a pacing adversary threat environment for the new technologies and their ability to operate in a degraded setting.

“ShOC-N’s ability to operate in the shadows of operational theaters or large-scale exercises allows us to experiment in the most realistic, operationally relevant ways. Everything we do is nested within the USAF Warfare Center’s Pacing Challenge Campaign Plan. All new technology is vetted against our ability to compete with China,” said Col. Frederick Coleman, 505th Command and Control Wing commander, Hurlburt Field, Florida.

The Air Combat Command C2 Futures Branch’s Tactical C2 Weapon Systems Division leveraged the event to shape Battle Management Command and Control functions requirements, viewing several mobile and rapidly deployable tactical air component C2 systems at work in an ACE environment.

“Major General Slocum, ACC/A3 [director of operations], challenged the staff to rapidly prototype and field a Tactical Operations Center – Light, or TOC-L, capability,” said Maj. Carl Rossini, C2 Futures Branch chief. “[The] ShOC-N enabled us to meet that challenge by quickly bringing together the event, data, warfighters, test organizations, and acquisitions.”

Not only did this event leverage unique ShOC-N capabilities, but it also served as a risk reduction event for the Pacific Air Forces’ Valiant Shield 2022 exercise, along with ACC’s participation in the U.S. Army Futures Command’s Project Convergence 2022 exercise.

Organizations that partnered with the ShOC-N for the TOC-L experimentation included the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense Research and Engineering 5G support team, the Missile Defense Agency, representatives of the ACC staff, the Air Force Joint Test Program Office, the 605th Test and Evaluations Squadron, the 422nd Test and Evaluations Squadron, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Solypsis, Global C2 Integration Technologies, Lower Echelon Analytics Platform – Tactical, or LTAC, and Novetta Systems.

In addition to external mission partner involvement and success, the ShOC-N employed their organic data scientist team to develop methodologies to measure data latency from various systems, data files, and logs. Their analysis proved successful and demonstrated data scientists’ current and future utility, along with the need to advance and automate instrumentation.

“Collecting and storing mass amounts of data without a plan is of no value. Turning volumes of data into decision quality information is where we show value, and I’m proud of our data science team,” said Lt. Col. David Spitler, 805th CTS/ShOC-N commander.

Instrumentation is a core attribute of the battle lab still under development.

“The analytics shown by our data science team and the LTAC cyber team sparked the imagination of what is possible. However, it also showed how much more investment is needed to truly instrument the battle lab,” said Col. Aaron Gibney, 505th Combat Training Group commander, Nellis AFB, Nevada. “We need to be able to define what we’re measuring and then measure it in an automated, objective, quantitative way.”

When data is collected, classified, labeled, properly tagged, and stored with ontologies, the instrumented data provides the basis for objective evaluation of technical performance in the experimental lab environment. Instrumentation is intended to enable objective methods for A|B comparisons, measuring compression of warfighting processes, data latencies, and the efficacies of prototypes against currently fielded hardware and software. With instrumentation, the ShOC-N will provide objective reviews to inform senior leader decisions for the continued prototyping and/or transition to test to deliver capabilities to the warfighter rapidly.

The Distributed Command and Control Event showed how critical the ShOC-N is as the USAF develops and matures advanced technologies to compress the kill-chain and streamline the decision-making process for warfighters. The ShOC-N was able to showcase key technologies in an ACE environment and will continue advancing its mission to support the warfighter.

“The warfighter ethos is alive and strong in the ShOC-N,” said Coleman.

The 805th CTS reports to the 505th CTG, Nellis AFB, Nevada, and the 505th Command and Control Wing, headquartered at Hurlburt Field, Florida.

By Deb Henley

505th Command and Control Wing

Public Affairs

Posted in Air Force, Forces Focus, Guest Post | Comments Off on USAF’s ShOC-N Battle Lab Hosts Distributed Command and Control Event

Army Modernizes Pacific Expeditionary Signal Battalion

Sunday, June 5th, 2022

HELEMANO MILITARY RESERVATION, Hawaii — As the 307th Expeditionary Signal Battalion, or ESB, celebrated its 80th birthday on May 27, the Army is converting the unit to an ESB-Enhanced formation. With this conversion comes a smaller, lighter and faster network communications equipment tool suite that will better serve the unit’s unique and varied mission sets.

With companies in both Hawaii and Alaska, the battalion provides global network connectivity on short notice to U.S. Army Pacific and U.S. Army North units, often in harsh locations, from secluded island jungles thousands of miles across the ocean to ice-covered mountains in the Arctic Circle.

“We talk about the tyranny of distance, about the challenges created by the vast number of locations and extreme environments throughout the Pacific; this new expeditionary equipment set will help us to support those missions,” said Col. Lee Adams, commander of the 516th Theater Signal Brigade, to which 307th ESB-E is assigned. “We are always trying to improve and to provide foundational capabilities for the theater Army. This transition to an ESB-E does that for us; it gives us a better capability to enable the theater Army to fight successfully.”

The reduced size and system complexity of the equipment set enables ESB-E units to significantly increase their network support to other units with more nodes and less manpower, while reducing transportation requirements by over 60 percent. The tool suite includes various-sized expeditionary satellite dishes and baseband equipment, high-throughput backhaul radios, and wireless command post technologies. It replaces the unit’s much larger Tactical Network Transport At-The-Halt equipment, formally known as Warfighter Information Network-Tactical, which is often transported across the Pacific via cargo ships. The new equipment set can be transported via commercial airline if needed, in hours versus days or weeks.

Prior to his current position, Adams commanded the first unit to be converted to an ESB-E, the 50th ESB-E, during the planning and initial fielding of the unit’s pilot equipment. The 307th ESB-E conversion marks the sixth unit that the Army has fielded with the new equipment package. The Army’s Project Manager Tactical Network, assigned to the Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communications-Tactical, began fielding the unit with the Scalable Network Node to the companies in both Hawaii and Alaska in March. Fielding the remainder of the initial baseline systems is expected to be complete by the end of the fiscal year.

The Army’s agile ESB-E acquisition and fielding approach aligns with its two-year incremental Capability Set fielding process, which enables the service to enhance the ESB-E baseline capability in future capability sets if Soldier feedback warrants it, or when evolving commercial technologies become mature enough to be procured. On the current plan, the Army is fielding several ESB-Es per fiscal year until all of the ESBs have been upgraded to the new baseline capability.

“As I talk to the other ESB-E commanders, the [project manager], and its fielding team that is here now, and we get feedback from our Soldiers as they going through the training, I can see firsthand the accumulation of lessons learned and how the equipment set continues to improve,” said Lt. Col. Drew Chaffee, commander of the 307th ESB-E, who also once served as a company commander for the unit.

The ESB-E tool suite is a critical element of Capability Set 21, which delivers smaller, lighter and faster communications systems that are easier to operate and provide increased network communication Primary, Alternate, Contingency and Emergency, or PACE, plan options. The tool suite provides signal path diversity in congested and contested environments, leveraging numerous high-throughput line-of-sight and beyond-line-of-sight capabilities.

“It’s critical to have a good PACE plan, to be able to incorporate different transport that may be more survivable in a particular terrain. Every commander wants more options,” Adams said. “When we are fighting in a battle environment that is degraded, intermittent or just has delayed latency, I have to have different technologies, different pieces of kit that make me more survivable, make us a harder target to hit, yet allows us to stand still to support multi-domain operations at an assured level. And that is what having these different network transport capabilities provide us.”

To enable additional transport paths for improved network resiliency, the Army is working to deliver high-throughput and low latency satellite communications leveraging emerging commercial technologies and services in non-traditional orbits, such as Low Earth Orbit and Medium Earth Orbit. In April, the 307th ESB conducted a demonstration of commercial high-throughput and low latency satellite communications, at the Helemano Military Reservation on Oahu. The unit plans to further experiment with the capability during upcoming U.S. Army Pacific training exercises.

“The name of the game is operational flexibility,” Chaffee said. “This new kit is scalable and tailorable to the mission. We have the operational flexibility to tailor our teams, our equipment set, and our footprint to the requirements based on the mission and the environment that we find ourselves in. This smaller lighter ESB-E kit is going to get us there much more effectively and it highlights the United States’ ability to support and adapt in some of the most austere and remotely located environments in the world.”

By Amy Walker, Project Manager Tactical Network, PEO C3T, public affairs

Posted in Army, Comms, Forces Focus, Guest Post | Comments Off on Army Modernizes Pacific Expeditionary Signal Battalion