Photo By Senior Airman Violette Hosack | A U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker assigned to the 91st Expeditionary Air Refueling...... read more read more
Subscribe
ARABIAN PENINSULA – U.S. Air Forces Central launched Operation Agile Spartan 2025.1, January 26, across the Arabian Peninsula to evaluate the U.S. Air Force’s ability to react and respond to threats as a unified Coalition force from dispersed locations throughout the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.
The multi-week Agile Combat Employment exercise incorporates elements from all five of U.S. Air Forces Central’s deployed Air Expeditionary Wings, representing Total Force Active Duty, Guard, and Reserve Airmen to validate their ability to integrate with regional partners and generate combat air power to support U.S. Central Command’s theater campaign strategy from forward, austere locations.
Collaboration and integration with regional allies and partners are essential to improving resilience and survivability of coalition airpower.
“Our Airmen face new challenges every day in the AFCENT arena as they execute combat operations to protect our forces and defend our partners,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Derek France, Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) Commander. “The lessons they are learning and the
relationships they are building alongside our partners will make us stronger together and be invaluable as the Department of the Air Force reoptimizes for Great Power Competition.”
The Agile Combat Employment concept focuses on the ability to generate combat air power in contested and austere environments by deliberately dispersing forces to smaller cluster locations, amplifying the U.S.’ ability to operate from anywhere at any time.
As the U.S. Air Force’s sole command conducting kinetic combat and air defense operations on a daily basis, U.S. Air Forces Central is in a unique position to shape and guide the force’s approach toward major combat operations with advanced near-peer adversaries.
“The lessons our Airmen are learning in the Middle East become the standard across the rest of the force,” said Chief Master Sgt. Josh Wiener, Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) Command Chief. “Their leaders, peers, and subordinates are leaning on our deployed Airmen as the experts on generating combat power to support our partners and deter our adversaries.”
With nearly 13,000 deployed personnel at any given time, U.S. Air Forces Central provides a unique insight for Airmen faced with the challenge of the changing character of warfare. They receive hands-on experience in a kinetic environment where adversaries are harnessing new technologies with advanced tactics to compete in the contested environment.
A key component to facilitating the Agile Combat Employment concept is decentralized command and control. Applying operational maneuver to already forward-deployed forces increases survivability and generates more military options for the combined/joint force commander to present an effective, credible deterrence or respond to crises.
The forward deployments of F-15E Strike Eagles, A-10 Thunderbolt II, and F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft from major hubs to dispersed locations – while still supporting Operations Inherent Resolve and Prosperity Guardian – models the ability for U.S. Airmen to make decisions and generate combat power at the lowest level.
Support aircraft, including the KC-135 Stratotanker, E-11A Battlefield Airborne Communications Node, and C-130J Super Hercules will also be executing dispersed operations to evaluate the command’s ability to generate rapid air mobility and contested communications
from anywhere in the region.
Large-scale Agile Combat Employment exercises, like Agile Spartan, reinforce the U.S.’ enduring commitment to regional partners in the Middle East while developing Multi-Capable, Combat-Ready Airmen prepared to face any threat across the globe.
Imagery of operations and activities within the U.S. Air Forces Central theater of operations is publicly available through the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service at https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/AFCENT.
For more information on U.S. Air Forces Central, please contact Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) Public Affairs at afcent.publicaffairs@us.af.mil.
| Date Taken: | 01.29.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 01.29.2025 06:50 |
| Story ID: | 489763 |
| Location: | (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION) |
| Web Views: | 919 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, AFCENT leads Air Force’s Agile Combat Employment model, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
