Photo By Senior Airman Zachary Foster | U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Luke Baugh, a crew chief assigned to the 19th Aircraft...... read more read more
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LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. -- Airmen from the 19th Airlift Wing and 913th Airlift Group from Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, have teamed up with the 317th AW from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, and are working together to meet objectives in the 2025 Department Level Exercise series.
DLE 2025 is a large-scale training event and includes elements designed to test and refine the U.S. Air Force's rapid global mobility capabilities. This year's exercise boasts a significant international component, focusing on seamless integration and interoperability with partner nations in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility, requiring swift and coordinated airlift operations.
With the INDOPACOM theater playing host to the exercise, it presents a complex and challenging environment for participating units, pushing them to their limits in terms of operational tempo, logistical planning, and inter-unit communication.
“The opening phases of any operation are the most challenging,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Ryan Vanderneck, 41st Airlift Squadron commander. “Transportation, food, lodging, connectivity, accountability, mission taskings—these are all things that everyone is trying to work out seemingly on the fly.”
The 19th AW, in tandem with their 317th AW and 913th AG teammates, are playing a critical role in transporting troops and supplies, often working directly with partner nation aircrews and ground personnel.
“The seamless manner in which the team came together is a testament to the way that Herk Nation can ensure mission success in the Pacific,” Vanderneck said. “The team’s professionalism enabled us to show how we come together, present a united front with our allies and partners and deliver resilient logistics.”
One familiar experience for aircrew and exercise participants is the team’s contribution to delivering invaluable training to the joint force.
One of countless examples was the 41st AS providing transport to U.S. Navy and Marine Corps members assigned to the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit Five and the Navy Special Warfare Group One, U.S. Naval Base, Guam, as they performed a free fall jump out of the C-130J Super Hercules aircraft.
One nuance for the team is the DLE’s emphasis on overcoming communication challenges, forcing teams to adapt and innovate in the face of degraded or unreliable networks, and on strengthening partnerships.
Vanderneck said the team hasn’t missed a beat and continues to push through these types of challenges and credits his team’s “mission hacker” mentality and their ability to deliver beyond his expectations.
“When communications fail due to distance or other issues, my Airmen executed within the last-given intent and continue to push the mission forward,” he said. “By the time communications were re-established, the overall mission was further down the track than I had any right to hope. That is culture in action.”
The lessons learned from this exercise will be incorporated into future training and operational procedures, ensuring the U.S. Air Force and its allies remain ready to respond to any global crisis.
For the 19th AW, this is also an opportunity to see command-and-control (C2) in action as the wing prepares to shift to a Deployable Combat Wing construct where Airmen from a single wing train and deploy together as a cohesive unit of action in alignment with the Air Force Generation model.
“When large volumes of air traffic are moving about, the mission generation force element (MGFE) needs to be that trusted organization that can be empowered to make those decisions at the edge of the battlespace,” Vanderneck said. “The DCW will fill the gap in localized C2 and operational planning, taking the pressure off the MGFEs and give them the bandwidth to solve the tactical problems that enable us to put the joint force where it needs to be, anytime, anywhere.”
This exercise is allowing the 19th AW to refine their ability to rapidly deploy and operate as a self-sufficient, integrated combat force, capable of establishing and maintaining air operations in austere environments.
“Our comm team put in long hours from the moment we landed to ensure we could operate; it was a small group of three Airmen doing that,” Vanderneck said. “Our operations support teammates likewise drove coordination across their functional areas, providing support where it was needed, before anyone had to ask.”
The collective effort displayed by these Airmen exemplifies each wing’s commitment to providing rapid global mobility and delivering invaluable training to the joint force and allied nations.
| Date Taken: | 07.31.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 07.31.2025 18:04 |
| Story ID: | 544451 |
| Location: | LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, ARKANSAS, US |
| Web Views: | 76 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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