MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala (AFNS) —  

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown, Jr. recently signed the service’s first doctrine publication on Agile Combat Employment, codifying a proactive and reactive operational scheme of maneuver to increase survivability while generating combat power throughout the integrated deterrence continuum.

Working with experts across the service, the Curtis E. LeMay Center developed Air Force Doctrine Note 1-21, Agile Combat Employment, to serve as the foundation of ACE operational doctrine. AFDN 1-21 provides guidance for Airmen to rapidly innovate and generate discussion across the force to develop new best practices.

“Rapid development of guidance is essential to accelerating change for our service and our Joint teammates,” said Maj. Gen. William Holt, LeMay Center commander. “This doctrine note represents another milestone in our ability to develop and leverage emerging doctrine.”

AFDN 1-21 will complicate and create dilemmas in an adversary targeting process while creating flexibility for friendly forces to achieve operational advantage. To deter and win, the core elements of ACE are Posture, Command & Control, Movement and Maneuver, Protection, and Sustainment.

“Future conflict will never look like wars of the past, and that is why we have to get after building multi-capable, strategically-minded Airmen today, so they can compete, deter, and win tomorrow,” said Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne S. Bass. “AFDN 1-21 presents, in doctrine, expeditionary and multi-capable Airmen capable of accomplishing tasks outside of their core Air Force specialty to provide combat support and combat service support to ACE force elements.

Our adversaries around the globe have increasing capabilities to hold our main operating bases at risk. Peer adversaries have achieved rapid technological advancement in small-unmanned aircraft systems as well as cruise, ballistic, and hypersonic missiles. This, combined with a reduction of overseas operating locations, means the Air Force can no longer consider MOBs as sanctuaries from attack. The Air Force must adapt to this new paradigm to maintain a combat effective force. Airmen should expect to conduct operations at a speed, scope, complexity, and scale exceeding recent campaigns from distributed locations.”

In order to update the doctrine, the development team will use current best practices to improve future information.

“Over the last year, we have reaped several benefits by taking this same doctrine development approach with the Air Force’s role in Joint All-Domain Operations resulting in AFDP 3-99,” said Lt. Col. Richard Major, Air Force Doctrine Development director. “I expect we will see the same for ACE as our Airmen use the doctrine note as a point of reference to help build new best practices we can then integrate into current doctrine and use to inform future doctrine.”

The LeMay Center serves as CSAF’s principal agent for doctrine, lessons learned and provides Air Force input to Joint doctrine. The center also assists in the development of concepts and strategy.

-Air University Public Affairs

WASHINGTON (AFNS) —  

Starting with the 22E6 and E5 promotion testing cycles, the Air Force will begin using Situational Judgment Test questions as part of the Promotion Fitness Examination (PFE). This change is an integral part of the overall talent management transformation effort to better align the enlisted promotion system with the Air Force’s foundational competencies and the new Airman Leadership Qualities, as well as provide an agile approach to measuring the diverse knowledge, skills, and experience of Airmen.

“This is another critical step in our talent management transformation, moving us away from using strictly knowledge-based questions while providing more agility in the way we measure the competency level and leadership abilities of our Airmen,” said Lt. Gen. Brian Kelly, Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower, Personnel and Services.

The change decreases PFE knowledge questions from 100 to 60, and adds 20 Situational Judgment Test questions that were derived from a diverse group of behavioral scientists and Senior Enlisted Leaders from across the Air Force. The overall points for the PFE will not change and will still make up 100 points of an Airman’s total score.

For each SJT question on the PFE, examinees will read the description of a situation relevant to their potential rank and duties, examine four possible responses to the situation, and then select the most effective and the least effective response.

Although there are no study references available for the SJT questions, Airmen should continue to familiarize themselves with the Airman Leadership Qualities, foundational competencies, and associated behaviors which will provide a general framework to consider when responding to these types of questions.

“We are constantly looking at ways to better develop and assess Airmen’s skills and abilities,” said Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne S. Bass. “This is another step in the right direction, with more to come.”

WASHINGTON (AFNS) —  

The Air Force will officially add new alternative components to physical fitness assessments beginning Jan. 1, 2022. The updated scoring charts can be found here.

After announcing the components in July, over 9,000 data points were collected to determine the point values for each component by assessing approximately 2,000 Airmen from 23 installations.

Airmen will have the choice to perform these options to meet the strength and cardiovascular requirements:

Cardio

Traditional 1.5-mile Run

High Aerobic Multi-shuttle Run (20M HAMR)

Strength

Traditional Push-ups

Hand Release Push-ups

Sit-ups

Traditional Sit-ups

Cross-Leg Reverse Crunch

Plank

“While testing these components at various installations, we received a large amount of positive feedback,” said Lt. Gen. Brian Kelly, Air Force deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel, and services. “The changes to the physical fitness assessments reflect what we learned and our desire to provide Airmen with additional flexibility in maintaining fitness standards.”

Airmen can schedule their assessment and sign up for their desired cardio option via myFitness, which will be available for scheduling starting on Dec. 10. While members can select their desired cardio option when scheduling their assessment, they will select their desired strength components at time of their assessment.

While the waist measurement is no longer a component of the fitness assessment, DoD Instruction 1308.3 still requires Airmen to be measured for and maintain a healthy body composition to ensure physical readiness. The Air Force Surgeon General, who has responsibility for overall Airmen health, has reviewed alternatives and determined waist-to-height ratio as the best available method for assessing body composition. AF/SG will be providing guidance on this program in the coming months.

In addition to the approved new options, the Air Force continues to test future alternatives. Key tenets for new options include ensuring the test is an equivalent measure of fitness, regardless of testing method, and ensuring approved alternatives can be available at every location so all Airmen have the same set of options. This currently limits options like swimming or biking where sufficient equipment is not available at all locations. Likewise, based on equipment requirements and the need for continued testing, the one-mile walk is not being incorporated as an option at this time. The two-kilometer walk will remain a fitness component for those who are not medically cleared to perform the two approved aerobic options.

The Air Force Services Center is working with installation Fitness Assessment Cells to schedule and conduct training for Unit Fitness Program Managers and Physical Training Leaders to ensure proper administration of the new components.

The alternative events will not apply to Guardian annual fitness tests as the U.S. Space Force develops and implements their service-specific Holistic Health Assessment over the next year.

By Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs

The Multi-Domain Warfare Officer Initial Skills Training class 21B visited the 612th Air Operations Center at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, to observe real-time operations, Sept. 27-28. 

The 612th AOC’s mission is to “plan, command, control, execute, and assess air, space, and information operations to meet Secretary of Defense, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Commander, United States Southern Command’s taskings across the full spectrum of military operations.” 

Davis-Monthan AFB was the third of a four-leg trip for the Multi-Domain Warfare Officer, or 13O, students traveling to geographic and functional operations centers. The 13Os had just visited the Shadow Operations Center – Nellis, or ShOC-N, at Nellis AFB, Nevada, as well as the Combined Space Operations Center at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.  Their next and final stop will be the 616th Operations Center at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas.

“When the class arrived, they received a brief about how 13Os have been used in AFSOUTH [Air Forces Southern] and some of the unique characteristics of the command and AOC,” according to Maj. Nathaniel “Crowbar” Butler, a 13O Class 20A graduate, assigned to the 612th AOC Strategy Division. “We then provided them with initial data and assumptions to begin planning for a strategic deterrence mission. We were able to provide real-world lines of effort, priorities, and constraints to shape their planning.”

The training exercise provided the students with real-world exercise planning experience using real-world products that were not derived in an academic environment.

Butler continued, “Their deliverable was a brief that demonstrated how they would employ a task force, with a synchronized IO [information operations] plan, to build partnership in our AOR [area of responsibility] and reinforce the message that the U.S. is the ‘Trusted Partner’ in South America.”

Both teams successfully met the air component’s intent and demonstrated an ability to use their training in a competition environment scenario.

“It’s just amazing to witness how far we’ve come as a brand new career field.  When I graduated as part of the very first 13O class, we were still an experiment in almost every sense of the word,” weighed in Lt. Col. Marcus “Troll” Bryan, 705th Training Squadron commander/leader of the 13O schoolhouse, Hurlburt Field, Florida.

Bryan continued, “The first 13O graduates didn’t know what to expect when we left the schoolhouse nest. In many instances, AOCs were a hodge-podge of various career fields where organizational culture was dependent on command climate.  Now we have 13O students visiting 13O graduates, executing real-world 13O planning events as part of their training, and most importantly building a culture of operational C2 expertise across the globe!”

Lt. Col. Benjamin “Dragon” Lee, 705th TRS director of operations and 13O graduate, seconded that view.  “By the time this class graduates, they’ll know where their first follow-on assignment will be, and most (if not all) of those assignments will be to Air Components like they saw on this TDY.  This world-wide 13O network and culture is one of many 13O career field milestones that will help the USAF lead the joint force in an era of strategic competition.”      

The demand signal from the air components for confident operational command and control experts capable of integrating multiple domains is stronger than ever. The 20-week AFSC [Air Force Specialty Code]-awarding course is the most rigorous operational-level planning course in the USAF, preparing 13Os to lead operational planning within the air component from day one.

To learn more about 13O training and the Multi-Domain Warfare Officer career field, visit the following websites:  intelshare.intelink.gov/sites/C2/13O/SitePages and www.milsuite.mil/book/groups/13O.

The 705th TRS reports to the 505th Test and Training Group and 505th Command and Control Wing, both are headquartered at Hurlburt Field, Florida. 

By Deb Henley, 505th Command and Control Wing, Public Affairs

MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. (AFNS) —  

Airmen now have at their fingertips the opportunity to receive credit for learning about another country’s culture while simultaneously responding to the Air Force chief of staff’s action order to understand the nation’s strategic competitors.

This can be achieved by accessing the latest version of the Air Force Culture and Language Center’s Air Force Culture Guide app.

Howard Ward, AFCLC director, unveiled version 2.0 of the app to a virtual audience Oct. 15, the last day of the 2021 Virtual Air University Language, Regional Expertise and Culture Symposium.

Ward described the updated app as a one-stop shop for accessible, relevant and impactful curriculum in addition to culture field guides.

“It’s a delivery method that can deploy curriculum at enterprise scale, untethered from the constraints of government systems, which is especially great for total force Airmen, and it’s designed to accelerate learning for strategic competition by putting AFCLC’s ‘Global Classroom’ right in your pocket,” he said.

Shortly after its initial release in 2017, The Wall Street Journal recognized the original version as one of the six indispensable apps for business travelers.

The changes to the original app include:

Enhanced accessibility to AFCLC’s Expeditionary Culture Field Guides – Users no longer need to download one of the 69 guides to view their content. Touch the block containing the name of the guide for it to open. Plus, there are seven new ECFGs on the way.

Accelerated learning for strategic competition – Touch the Courses button at the bottom of the screen to view the first new course. Developing Cultural Competence is designed to baseline the user on what culture is, why it matters and how users can learn more as their career progresses. Two more courses will be released soon. These courses will allow each service member to achieve Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown, Jr.’s Action Order C: Competition individually by learning the fundamentals of culture for adversary understanding. Upon completing these courses, users will receive a certificate ready to upload to their learning record, as applicable.

A video library will be coming soon to further enhance learning capabilities on the go.

The app is available through the App Store and Google Play, and it’s safe for Department of Defense mobile devices. More than 20,000 individuals are already utilizing the app, and for those individuals, an automatic update to Version 2.0 is now available.

By Lori M. Quiller, Air Force Culture and Language Center Outreach Team