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    Shifting the focus: training for the near-peer conflict

    Shifting focus; 124th prepares for near peer conflicts

    Photo By Senior Master Sgt. Joshua Allmaras | Chief Master Sgt. Matthew Massengale, the chief enlisted manager for the 124th...... read more read more

    BOISE, ID, UNITED STATES

    02.06.2022

    Story by Senior Master Sgt. Joshua Allmaras 

    124th Fighter Wing

    The 124th Fighter Wing conducted a wing focus exercise at Gowen Field, Boise, Idaho, Feb. 4-6, 2022, to prepare for a near-peer combat conflict.

    The exercise included operations at a simulated main operating base, forward operating base, a field unit, and featured simulated ground and air attacks, chemical attacks, and distributed combat operations.

    “The exercise is designed to test our wing’s ability to employ and sustain combat operations in a contested, degraded, and operationally limited environment while also under the threat of CBRN [chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear] attack,” explained Lt. Col. Dale Wood, of the 124th Fighter Wing inspector general’s office. “The specific purpose of this WFE was to complete these tasks, but also add an additional layer of complexity by testing our ability to execute a hub-and-spoke operation incorporating Agile Combat Employment tactics, which have been a high-interest item from headquarters Air Force.”

    This training provides a unique way to employ an agile-combat force.

    “Hub-and-spoke operations disperse the force, making direct attacks at main operating bases less effective, while also giving our forces recovery options on the battlefield,” said Wood. “Overall, it creates battlefield resiliency by getting our aircraft back in the fight quicker and denies the enemy the ability to hit a single base and shut down flying operations.”

    If a hub or spoke is compromised, aircraft can recover to a base that is still operating and keep the mission going. This is part of what makes ACE operations key to fighting near-peer threats.

    “The near-pear threats facing our nation are where our nation’s focus has shifted,” said Col. Chad Kornberg, the 124th Fighter Wing commander. “Our training needs to match that shift, and I feel responsible for doing everything I can to prepare our Airmen for the war they may fight in the future, and not the ones we fought in the past.”

    Our Guardsmen not only need to prepare for domestic support missions, but also combat deployments.

    “We have to be ready to deploy,” said Wood. “We are entering an era of great power competition, where our adversaries’ capabilities have come to match or exceed our own. This means that we not only have to be ready to deploy, but ready to deploy to a hostile environment where our combat operations will be contested. How we perform in these exercises has a direct correlation on how we will perform in these real-world, contested-combat operations.”

    Wood went on to explain that training this way ensures our Airmen have something to fall back on when they deploy in the future. Allowing them to be effective in employing combat airpower against near-peer enemies. This is a shift from contingency operations the wing has been involved in for nearly 21 years.

    The WFE included many different scenarios to test Airmen’s ability to employ combat air power.

    The IG and wing plans office designed the exercise to affect all facets of aircraft operations. This tested Airmen’s ability to work through the simulated attacks and continue to support combat operations. Not only were aircraft operations tested, but day-to-day base operations were put to the test. Basically, every organization was impacted and required to work through the scenarios, Wood said.

    Attitude drives outcomes in any exercise, and overall, this WFE was a success.

    “I was very pleased with the outcome of the WFE,” said Kornberg. “A lot of hard work went into planning and preparing for the exercise, and those efforts were obvious by the quality of training our Airmen received.”

    He went on to express gratitude for the Airmen of the wing.

    “I want to thank our Airmen for the positive ‘can-do’ attitude throughout the entire weekend. We will have areas to improve on no doubt, but perfection was not the goal. We will thoroughly debrief the exercise, make the necessary corrections and press forward with a better understanding of where we are, compared to where we need to be.”

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 02.06.2022
    Date Posted: 02.11.2022 02:08
    Story ID: 414478
    Location: BOISE, ID, US

    Web Views: 263
    Downloads: 2

    PUBLIC DOMAIN