Photo By Staff Sgt. Noah Carlson | A restricted area signs marks the entrance to where Airmen assigned to the 155th Air...... read more read more
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LINCOLN, Neb. – The Nebraska Air National Guard's 155th Air Refueling Wing conducted a Combat Readiness Exercise during its regularly scheduled drill weekend, June 6-8, 2025, at the Nebraska National Guard air base in Lincoln, Nebraska.
The Combat Readiness Exercise evaluated the wing's ability to rapidly mobilize, deploy and sustain operations in a simulated contingency environment. The exercise tested the deployment readiness and supporting infrastructure of the installation to support wartime operations by assessing Airmen on performance-based tasks critical to mission readiness, such as cargo processing, personnel deployment and emergency response actions.
For three days, Airmen were challenged to operate under compressed timelines to execute deployment tasks efficiently and effectively, replicating the pressures of real-world operations.
"Combat Readiness Exercises are a vital part of ensuring our Airmen are ready to respond to real-world missions," said Col. Christopher Hesse, commander of the 155th Air Refueling Wing. "It's about practicing how we fight, working through challenges as a team, and validating our ability to deploy and operate under pressure."
The exercise scenario tasked the entirety of the wing to support the simulated deployment of more than 300 personnel and 80,000 tons of cargo from the unit’s home station at the Nebraska National Guard air base to a deployed location, which was simulated on the west ramp of the airport in Lincoln.
Officer-in-charge for the 155th Civil Engineering Squadron, 1st Lt. Jordan Gunter, said the exercise allowed Airmen to practice operating as if they were in a contingency location. This included the building-up of a new base of operations with temporary structures serving as working quarters, operational shelters and the use of an expandable single pallet expeditionary kitchen to feed the “deployed” Airmen.
“This is the very first time we have operated this particular operational muscle,” Gunter, added while saying that the exercise concept allowed planners to work through the various problems involved in moving a significant portion of the wing to a deployed location and then quickly setting up operations.
“We are making sure that we can do everything we can do at home at a deployed location with a reduced footprint, because what matters is that we practice how we fight, so we’re going to practice it and see how well we do.”
Throughout the three-day exercise, Airmen were tasked with completing a variety of prepared injected challenges that simulated a more intense and degraded operational environment. This included the wearing of mission oriented protective posture equipment, increased security protocols monitoring for external threats to include drones, and amplified emergency responses. Additional unplanned difficulties, such as an early summer rainstorm, increased the complexity of Airmen’s ability to effectively complete required tasks, including launching multiple KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft under adverse weather conditions.
“The CRE – Combat Readiness Exercise – is the new Air Force model for readiness that helps us shift our training focus from one geographical area to another,” said Lt. Col. Michael Newman, 155th Mission Support Group deputy commander who served as the simulated deployed instillation commander for the exercise. “This new model sees us adjusting our tactics, techniques and procedures to be more agile throughout mission execution.
“This exercise was our first practice opportunity to identify any deficiencies and areas for improvement through collected lessons learned,” Newman added, saying the Lincoln exercise offered an opportunity for the wing to test this new model, find what success looks like, and help build muscle memory for the future.
“We constantly threw challenges at our Airmen and every single time they digested the problem, came up with a solution, and executed,” Newman said. “Big kudos to all of them for executing and making this weekend a great success.”
| Date Taken: | 06.09.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 06.09.2025 16:25 |
| Story ID: | 500128 |
| Location: | LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, US |
| Web Views: | 75 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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