HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah – The flightline here is rarely this quiet. For the past several weeks the “sound of freedom” hasn’t been heard as frequently against the mountains, instead it’s been heard over the Pacific Ocean, the western deserts, and across the globe.
If the Airmen of the 388th Fighter Wing aren’t in combat, they are preparing for combat in a continuous cycle of training that keeps them ready to field the F-35A Lightning II anywhere in the world.
TRAINING IN THE AFFORGEN CYCLE
As part of the training plan, large force exercises like Red Flag at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., and Bamboo Eagle, which takes place across the western United States, build upon local Agile Combat Employment exercises, which built upon local flying and readiness days – all with the intent of fielding the most lethal, ready force possible within the Air Force Force Generation cycle.
“Tempo, during the AFFORGEN cycle, is of the utmost importance. You can’t sprint to the starting line of a marathon,” said Col. Charles Fallon, 388th Fighter Wing commander. “The certification phase is the culmination of a year’s-worth of combat readiness generation. Throughout the previous 12 months, each squadron implements a training program to gradually build unit and individual readiness, with an upward trajectory toward peak performance. That starts here at Hill and continues toward complex off-station exercises that validate our readiness, certify units for combat, and provide feedback on areas where we need to improve.”
THE VALUE OF CAPSTONE EXERCISES
While their fellow squadrons are deployed, the 4th Fighter Squadron and Fighter Generation Squadron just returned from Red Flag and Bamboo Eagle, which helped prepare the maintainers and support personnel “under the wing,” and the pilots in the cockpit, for short-notice taskings anywhere in the world.
“We do a lot of building-block type training on a daily basis at home station,” said Lt. Col. Adam Thomspon, 4th Fighter Squadron commander. “While we’re able to make it pretty complex and challenging, and even integrate other platforms and other units, we can’t quite replicate the scale of Red Flag or Bamboo Eagle. And that scale is vital for training to the strengths of the F-35A and our core mission sets.”
One of the F-35’s strengths is reducing the scale of the fight by being a force multiplier. A small number of aircraft can gather data from across the battlespace, share that information, employ against threats, while also making other fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft in the force package more effective. The platform has proven itself very capable in performing offensive and defensive counter-air, suppression of enemy air defenses, escorting and protecting other aircraft, Thompson said.
IMPROVING AIRMANSHIP & BUILDING LEADERS
During Red Flag, the squadrons can focus on getting younger wingmen exposed to operating cooly and calmly in a high-threat environment that’s saturated with other aircraft – both enemies and friendlies. They can also use mission planning opportunities to upgrade instructor pilots to mission commanders, who are then able to lead integrated force packages, said Thompson.
During Bamboo Eagle, the focus shifts. The entire squadron, pilots and maintainers, are forced to operate in an Agile Combat Employment environment across vast distances with degraded or contested logistics and communications. Decisions are driven down to lower levels and the entire unit mindset is focused on overcoming emerging challenges to ensure mission success.
“That’s one of the most valuable things about these large exercises,” Thompson said. “We don’t have the same distractions we have back at home station, and we can really start gelling as a mission generation force element – both ops and maintenance. Our communication and integration is tightening up at just the right time as we prepare to complete our training cycle.”