DVIDS – News – Integrated F-16 combat rotations enable ACE at Northern Strike 24-2

Operating from unfamiliar and remote locations is a cornerstone of the Air Force’s Agile Combat Employment (ACE). In accordance with ACE doctrine, two teams of Air National Guard (ANG) maintainers from the 180th and 122nd Fighter Wings (FW) conducted integrated combat turns with F-16 Fighting Falcons away from home station during Northern Strike (NS) 24-2.

The 180th FW, Ohio ANG, from Toledo Air National Guard Base (ANGB), Ohio, and the 122nd FW, Indiana ANG, from Fort Wayne ANGB, Indiana, traveled to Northern Michigan for NS 24-2, flying sorties from Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center (CRTC) and Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport from 3-17 August.

“An integrated combat turnaround (ICT) minimizes the space required and the time the aircraft spends on the ground,” said Master Sgt. Samuel Kimple, program manager for the U.S. Air Force’s 180th Maintenance Group and ACE program manager. “The goal is to get them on the aircraft, refuel, rearm and then fly out as quickly as possible.”

According to Kimple, the maximum allowable mission time of an F-16 ICT is 45 minutes. However, both units regularly remained well below this.

“We are doing maintenance in parallel,” Kimple said. “We will be pumping (petroleum, oil and lubricants) fuel while simultaneously reloading the aircraft and performing maintenance checks.”

This rapid turnaround time is due in part to the implementation of the Multi-Capable Airmen (MCA) concept. The ACE teams on NS 24-2 consisted of pilots from a variety of career backgrounds, including crew chiefs, avionics, munitions and aerospace ground equipment.

“There is no standard playbook for putting together an ACE team,” said Chief Master Sgt. Kurt Briner, U.S. Air Force commander and senior noncommissioned officer in charge of the 122nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. “Every unit does it differently. Our team has a diverse AFSC skillset, so they can overlap and learn each other’s tasks.”

To simulate contingency locations that the Air Force could use during ACE operations, part of the exercises were conducted from Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport, a former active Air Force base that was closed in 1993.

“(Oscoda) is definitely a little more spartan,” Kimple said. “We don’t have all the amenities and familiar faces that we deal with on a daily basis. We have to learn on the fly who people are and understand what their jobs are and how we can help each other get the jobs done.”

Briner said his unit received the F-16 mission less than a year ago, so deploying to both Northern Michigan locations has been extremely beneficial.

“This was our first TDY experience with ICT applications outside of our home station,” said Briner. “We had to distribute our teams as would be required in an ACE environment and were able to experience difficult communication and sharing issues over a longer distance. So it was great training and we learned a lot.”

Briner also mentioned that traveling to and from the exercise in a C-5 Galaxy, with only the bare minimum, was a unique learning tool.

“This helps us develop the right mindset for the future fight,” Briner continued. “Agility, leanness and wide dispersion like we’re simulating here are what’s coming. This gives us a taste of how we can leave a smaller footprint in more locations.”

Utilizing ICT and MCA’s ACE concepts, both units supported one of the National Guard’s largest exercises, involving approximately 6,300 members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Special Operations Forces and Coast Guard.

“I hope more units, especially in the Air National Guard, will get involved in ACE,” Briner said. “Participating in exercises like these changes the way we think and the way we fight.”