Southern strike is a joint multi
national exercise that happens annually
here at the Combat Raiders Training
Center in Gulfport . And what this
exercise does , it allows the army ,
the , the Air Force , the Navy , the
Marines and the Coast Guard to come and
train together in a joint expeditionary
environment to hone their war fighting
skills . As a team , the focus this
year is contingency response forces
which would play a huge role in the uh
emerging ace doctrine . I got the
window , push left , go , go , go , go ,
go , go , go , go , get them .
So traditionally in the uh in the air
force , you have one job and you're an
expert at that . But given the
expeditionary nature of things and ,
and as we uh have to set up airfields
in austere locations where manpower is
limited airmen have to do multiple jobs
to be able to execute . So you may have
to refuel an airplane one minute and
defend the perimeter . The next
pick us up a little bit more to come
and kill you off . The state of
Mississippi has long supported their
military . And uh they , they welcome
people with open arms to come in they
really get behind the effort to train
members of the military , regardless of
branch or nation . So some of the
strike is important because we don't
have a predetermined agenda for the
exercise . Events are driven by the
needs of the user and whatever training
they need to accomplish . If they need
to try new things that aren't
established , we will welcome the
opportunity to do new tactics ,
techniques and procedures in order to
make a more effective fighting force .
Every year , the training audience has
different uh objectives that they want
to train on . Again . This year , we're
looking at continuous response and air
air medical evacuation . Uh In the ace
concept , contingency response would
come in and take a an airfield in a
foreign country and they would
immediately start landing planes and
projecting air power that the air force
needs . Air medical evacuation is the
medical care for those airmen as we
operate contested environment , their
ability to provide combat casualty care
to airmen . That's a new flavor than
what we had last year . But it's all
within the Ace construct . The main
focus for Southern strike 24 this year
is more of a focus on our peer to peer
fight . We have made the pivot away
from uh the coin ops of the past and
focusing on the future fight and that
is our peer to peer fight . So bringing
that and our airmen and the Air
National Guard with that joint training
concept and focusing on that peer to
peer fight is a , is a focus what
Southern strike is
because it is a joint exercise . Uh ,
this gives an opportunity for airmen
and for soldiers , for marines , for
navy to work together , we've always
had that opportunity . So when exercise
like this bring us together , it makes
us a lethal force as a whole .