Air Force exercise hones personnel versatility, capabilities

The training in the Air Force operational concepts of Agile Combat Employment and Multi-Capable Airmen put personnel in out-of-the-ordinary situations to simulate the potential demands of warfighting, with training in tasks not defined by their Air Force rank or specialty, the branch said in a press release.

Members of the 61st Airlift Squadron, 19th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, 19th Logistics Readiness Squadron, and 19th Operations Support Squadron traveled to bases at Boise, Idaho; Key West, Fla., and Wilmington, N.C.

During a week in Boise, pilots, loadmasters and maintainers learned to establish and operate a barebones forward operating base.

The exercise at Key West involved use of C-130J cargo planes to locate a simulated downed aircraft, and included practice in dropping a rescue kit to the downed crew.

The 61st AS joined a quarterly ACE exercise in North Carolina, Razor Talon, a full threat scenario environment involving warfighters across multiple domains.

"As we continue to accelerate change, we have to think outside the box on how we train," Capt. Dmytro Pichkur, 61st AS pilot, said in a press release.

He added that the training "provided a venue to test how the C-130 fits into the picture of the future fight, while simultaneously reducing our overall footprint."

While traditional duties, including maintenance of aircraft and transportation of fuel, were on display, the ACE and MCA concepts were the mission of the exercise.

The ACE calls for moves to smaller, rapidly deployable, temporary airstrips supported by a limited number of crew members during conflicts, while the MCA focuses on teams' leanness and agility.