Photo By 2nd Lt. Jorrie Hart | Capt. Guy Bauermeister, a pilot with the114th Fighter Wing, flies near the Power River Training Complex during Combat Raider 21, July 22, 2021. The 114th Fighter Wing’s objective during Combat Raider was to exercise combat readiness in a simulated wartime scenario while implementing agile combat employment (ACE). (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Jorrie Hart) see less
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ELLSWORTH AIR FORCE BASE, SOUTH DAKOTA, UNITED STATES
In order to more effectively accomplish the mission, Airmen must train both on a small and large scale in a variety of different events and locations.
Combat Raider 2021
As part of its annual training cycle, the 114th Fighter Wing is one of 34 different flying units that participated this year.
“There's three reasons we are here at combat raider,” Lt. Col. Joe Schenkel, 114th Fighter Wing Combat Raider Officer in Charge, stated. “One is to train the pilots in integrated combat employment scenarios with dissimilar aircraft. We’re here with a lot of other assets the Air Force has and it's a rare opportunity for our pilots to train in an integrated environment like this and see how we would actually go to war.”
The second reason, Schenkel explained, is that this provides pilots an opportunity to complete upgrade training as well.
The third reason the 114th Fighter Wing participated is to continue practicing the Agile Combat Employment and Multicapable Airmen concepts.
“Agile Combat Employment is taking a minimal group of people and deploying them to another location to accomplish the mission with the smallest footprint possible,” Schenkel explained.
“The Multicapable Airman concept is where Airmen perform other duties outside their normal duties,” explained Senior Master Sgt. Andy Mager, 114th Fighter Wing Combat Raider Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge. “We’re training them to assist the areas that are short on personnel.”
Mager explained that he likes to see these training opportunities push Airmen to step out of their comfort zones by helping others and learning to ask for help themselves.
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