Category: United States Defense

Source: United States Air Force

RAF LEEMING, United Kingdom (AFNS) —  

RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall concluded their participation in Atlantic Trident 2023 Nov. 10, after working alongside French and British aircrews.

Atlantic Trident is a biennial multinational exercise to build combatant cooperation capabilities between French, U.K. and U.S. air forces, with the 2023 incarnation hosted by United Kingdom at RAF Waddington and RAF Leeming. 

Each exercise iteration meets specific readiness objectives that reflect ongoing and projected mission requirements. In 2023, exercise planners created scenarios that provided advanced and realistic aircrew training through fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft integration, strengthening interoperability during joint operations, and air defenses to maintain joint readiness.

“Atlantic Trident reflects our strong commitment with France and the United Kingdom and continues to strengthen our military ties,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. John Lamontagne, deputy commander of United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa. 

During this exercise, KC-135 Stratotankers from RAF Mildenhall provided aerial refueling capabilities, and F-15E Strike Eagles from the 492nd Fighter Squadron and F-35A Lightning IIs from the 493rd Fighter Squadron at RAF Lakenheath participated with allies in rapid deployment exercises under the Agile Combat Employment model. A contingent from Ramstein Air Base’s 1st Combat Communications Squadron also supported the exercise.

 
The key objective for U.S. participants was to exercise the U.S. Air Force’s ACE concept by providing participants with opportunities to test and improve shared technical and tactical knowledge. ACE is one of USAFE-AFAFRICA’s five operational focus areas. 

ACE represents a reinvigoration of a tried-and-true military concept that emphasizes agility and rapid adaptation to changing threat environments. In contrast to conventional operating methods, ACE seeks to reduce reliance on traditional fixed bases and static deployments. Instead, it embraces a dynamic approach to rapidly distribute, reposition and operate from multiple dispersed locations. By doing so, ACE aims to deny adversaries the advantage of predictability, while concurrently enhancing USAFE-AFAFRICA’s capacity to respond swiftly to emerging threats.

Where the U.S. Air Force has ACE, the French air force applies their operational concept of MORANE, a mindset which sees French air forces employ rapid implementation to deploy and act quickly with a small logistical footprint. Understanding the different operational concepts employed by the U.S., French and British air contingents is the first step towards building shared objectives and improving coordination, according to Matthew Snyder, USAFE lead planner for Atlantic Trident 2023. Practice will lead to better force integration and interoperability. 

Allied assets participating in the exercise included the French Air and Space Force Rafale and E-3F Airborne Warning and Control System, the French Navy Marine Rafale, the U.K. Royal Navy F-35B Lighting II, and the Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon.

The exercise culminated in a live demonstration of a rapid deployment scenario for allied military leaders including Gen. Laurent Rataud from French Air and Space Force, Air Marshal Harvey Smyth, RAF Air and Space Commander, and Lamontagne.

“At Royal Air Force Leeming, our men and women executed the agile combat employment concept alongside our allied partner. This advanced, realistic training in fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft also demonstrated that our combined aircrews are a ready and postured force,” Lamontagne said after observing the demonstration.

Source: United States Air Force

ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) —  

The Department of the Air Force selected Morris Air National Guard Base, Arizona, as the location to receive up to nine Slovak-owned F-16s to be temporarily stationed in the United States beginning in the spring of 2024 through fiscal year 2026 at the 162nd Wing.

The addition of Slovak-owned F-16s at Morris ANGB will require an increase of almost 30 ANG personnel, and only four of the possible nine aircraft will be used for flying training of Slovak Air Force pilots.

This action will not replace ongoing initial qualification pilot training provided to the Slovak Air Force using the 162nd Wing but will augment and accelerate the development of the Slovak pilot cadre.

Source: United States Air Force

ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) —  

The Department of the Air Force has announced that the Air Reserve component has initiated a direct commission and constructive service credit program memo for people interested in serving in the cyber security and cyberspace warfare operations career fields.

Brig. Gen. Terrence Adams, deputy principal cyber advisor to the Secretary of Defense and senior military advisor for Cyber Policy, made the announcement on behalf of the Air Force at the Aspen Institute Cyber Summit in New York.

“As our nation faces tough challenges in the cyberspace warfighting domain, the Air Force Reserve needs the best talent America has to offer,” Adams said. “The Cyber Direct Commission program is designed to attract highly skilled cyber professionals from industry and enlisted career fields who want to serve their nation in a part time capacity.”

Enlisted personnel and civilians qualified to serve as Air Force Warfighter Communications Operators (17D) and Cyberspace Effects Operators (17S) can earn a direct commission as an Air Force officer. Also eligible are personnel who are qualified to earn a cyberspace engineer/agile software developer – Cyberspace Engineering “Z” prefix as outlined in the Air Force Officer Classification Directory. 

“This program will allow the service to access cutting edge talent and leverage private sector skills to make us more competitive in the changing world environment,” said Alex Wagner, assistance secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs.

A review board will determine if candidates are eligible for constructive service credit for prior commissioned service, advanced education, and special training or experience.

Constructive service credit is used to determine initial grade, rank and service for promotion eligibility and is usually granted in year-long increments.

Applicants must meet the following criteria: 

·   Be eligible for a commission in the Air Force, including physical standards for entrance

·   Possess or be eligible for a top secret/sensitive compartmented information security clearance

·   Have a quantifiable record of leadership, management or supervisory experience in academia, civilian and/or military organizations (preferred)

·   Have qualifying advanced education, specialized training and/or experience in cyber-related fields as outlined in the memo

Candidates will incur an initial four-year Selective Reserve obligation from the date of appointment or commission and an additional four-year Inactive Ready Reserve obligation. They will also be required to complete the U.S. Air Force Officer Training School program. Their monthly reserve obligation will depend on the needs of their units, training requirements and mission requirements.

This program follows a regular Air Force pilot program for direct commissioning into cyber career fields and constructive service credit launched in 2020. 

This is the first time the reserve component has opened direct commissions to career fields other than lawyers, chaplains and medical personnel. The service may consider expanding the direct commission program to other reserve and Guard career fields in the future.

Career fields that may be considered are operations analyst, intelligence, security forces, chemist, nuclear chemist, physicists, nuclear physicists, developmental engineer and acquisition manager.

Source: United States Air Force

Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force JoAnne Bass visited multiple Wright-Patterson Air Force Base facilities, including the Air Force Research Laboratory’s 711th Human Performance Wing Nov. 9.

“We’re super excited to spend some time with you,” Bass said. “When I talk about building the Force of the Future, the work AFRL is doing is essential.”

During Bass’s visit to the 711 HPW, she was briefed by multiple subject matter experts on the Base Oversight of Autonomous Response, or BOAR, program and how it ties into the Readiness Airman Training, which is a part of the new Air Force Force Generation, or AFFORGEN, deployment model. The BOAR program aims to revolutionize infrastructure, processes and policies to field integrated capabilities that are reliable, safe and maximize autonomy and human-machine-teamed operations for installation mission support.

AFFORGEN is the new deployment model used by the Air Force and will incorporate drone training as part of the Readiness Airman Training, which is a prerequisite for deploying under the AFFORGEN model, said Chief Master Sgt. Doug Middendorf, 88th Communications Squadron senior enlisted leader.

“We have teamed up with AFRL to actually create a drone program for the [711 HPW],” Middendorf said. “Many of the Airmen are from the 88th Communications Squadron who have learned how to fly drones, set up the mission planning cell, and also to set up to move forward.”

The proof of concept, which debuted during the Air Force Marathon, will be used for Airman Readiness Training, Middendorf said.

“This is the first time, though, that I’m meeting our cyber Airmen who were flying drones because typically it’s our Defenders,” Bass said. “If you could fly a drone or do your cyber job, what would you do?”

During her visit, Bass posed the question to Senior Airman Geoffrey Alvarado, autonomous drone operations specialist, 88th Communications Squadron, about whether he enjoys flying drones or performing cyber-related work.

Alvarado said he has enjoyed doing both.

“We started off as a four-member team about five months ago,” Alvarado said. “We’ve been trying to integrate with this project as much as we can. It has been a big step going from [communication] to flying drones.”

Alvarado said the team members have been relying on their own experiences to learn about the Air Force to create new ideas, such as a drone operations center.

“We’ve mostly been trying to integrate with how the rest of the Air Force does its airspace missions and implementing it into this and trying to make a system that can go across the entire force,” Alvarado said.

Bass said the Air Force is looking to define its mission sets.

“There was an article we read before the pandemic that talked about how … every Army infantryman is starting to learn how to do this, because it will, at some point, be part of their competencies,” Bass added. “As we look at what an Airman of the future looks like, we have to ask ourselves: does every Airman — to some degree — have a similar level of competency?”

Alvarado said the team is looking to provide as much education on the system as possible before a deployment.

“We are putting that in our familiarization training for Readiness Airman Training in support of the AFFORGEN deployment process for them to have familiarization of what a drone looks like, what its capabilities are,” Alvarado said. “So, the first time they see it downrange, it’s not the first time they’re seeing it.”