{"id":19788,"date":"2023-07-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-22T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=19788"},"modified":"2023-07-23T06:48:36","modified_gmt":"2023-07-23T06:48:36","slug":"mobility-guardian-23-sharpens-afmcs-warfighter-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=19788","title":{"rendered":"Mobility Guardian 23 sharpens AFMC\u2019s warfighter support"},"content":{"rendered":"
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WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFNS) — \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Wartime<\/span> contingency and campaign planners can learn a lot from a major multi-national exercise, with dozens of aircraft carrying thousands of participants and moving tons of materiel and equipment across the Indo-Pacific theater.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThis exercise is really highlighting how the AFMC logistics enterprise supports the warfighter,\u201d said Col. John Klohr,<\/span> Headquarters AFMC logistics lead. \u201cThe vast distances and water make pre-positioned War Reserve Materiel critical to our readiness in the Indo-Pacific theater.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The exercise runs July 5-21, 2023.\u00a0 It is a major test of emerging operational concepts including the <\/span>Air Force\u2019s Force Generation Model<\/strong> <\/span><\/span><\/a>and <\/span>Agile Combat Employment<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/a>,\u00a0which features a hub-and-spoke base network of several operating locations manned by multi-capable Airmen to generate combat sorties.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Gen. Mike Minihan<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/strong>, <\/span>AMC commander, visited Wright-Patterson AFB last fall for a senior staff-to-staff engagement to highlight his readiness objectives and ask for AFMC\u2019s help.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThat really kind of kicked off all the support for this specific exercise,\u201d said Rich Moore, a senior analyst at the <\/span>Air Force Sustainment Center<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/strong> assigned to Wright-Patterson AFB.\u00a0 \u201cThat’s kind of telling, I think, when the operators come here saying, \u2018we need you.\u2019\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Logistics on the Attack<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In March 2023, Minihan shared the stage with <\/span>Gen. Duke Z. Richardson<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/strong>, AFMC Commander, during the annual Air Warfare Symposium hosted by the Air and Space Forces Association. They jointly highlighted the logistics challenges posed by the tyranny of distance and ocean in the <\/span>U.S. INDOPACOM<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/strong> area of responsibility and the urgency to get ready, in an integrated way, to deter, fight and win there.\u00a0 The discussion highlighted the need to rapidly deploy, operate and sustain a high-tempo fight, which will require Airmen to think differently.\u00a0 The generals emphasized during their joint panel that pre-positioned war reserve materiel supports a \u201cdistributed laydown\u201d and interoperability with allies and partners. <\/p>\n


\n <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This theme was also telegraphed by <\/strong>Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown, Jr.<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/strong>, during his recent confirmation hearing to serve as the next <\/span>chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.<\/p>\n

You cannot wait until the crisis occurs to be able to deploy capability,\u201d Brown told committee members. \u201cYou have to work with allies and partners to have access to locations so you can put that capability in place.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Fast forward to Mobility Guardian and the logistics planning and agile combat employment, theory is being put to its largest test yet.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIf you just trace the supply chain of what it takes to fight a war, all of it runs through AFMC,\u201d Moore<\/span> said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Requirements for spare parts, support equipment, fuels, munitions planning and more need to be forecasted and aligned with the war plan, he said, adding Mobility Guardian is part of a series of logistics-focused wargames the command is using to refine processes.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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AFMC centers deliver range of support\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Air Force Sustainment Center \u201cdepot surge\u201d is just one area where AFMC civilian and uniformed Airmen supported the exercise.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“We asked, \u2018What parts can we surge?\u2019 and \u2018How can we get tankers out of depot sooner?\u2019 We then looked at some of the authorities and things within our control to accelerate our processes,\u201d Klohr said. \u201c<\/span>So the planning aspect of Mobility Guardian produced some goodness that helped AFMC think differently about our processes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The AFSC, headquartered at <\/span>Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/strong>, led the way in support for Mobility Guardian by accelerating aircraft through depot maintenance, surging parts for anticipated need of increased flying operations, and deploying Airmen to perform depot level maintenance in the Indo Pacific.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cMobility Guardian is an incredibly important test of readiness and projecting joint capabilities in support of our National Defense Strategy.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t be <\/span>more proud of everyone across the Sustainment Center team for leaning into this important exercise,\u201d said Lt. Gen. Stacey Hawkins<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/strong>, AFSC <\/span>commander.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

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The depot team at Tinker AFB increased man-hours to deliver two KC-135s undergoing programmed depot maintenance back to AMC early, so they could support air refueling and airlift taskings during Mobility Guardian.<\/p>\n

635th Supply Chain Operations Wing<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0at Scott A<\/span>FB, Illinois, and the 448th Supply Chain Management Wing<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/strong> at Tinker<\/span> AFB, partnered to surge parts from within the global supply chain and depot sources of repair to ensure deploying units had every available part at their disposal to keep aircraft flying, said Col. Nicole Fuller, 635th SCOW vice commander.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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During the exercise to date, Fuller said the teams worked with <\/span>DLA Aviation<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/strong> to source more than 30 urgently needed Mission Impaired Capability Awaiting Parts, returning 15 non-mission capable aircraft to full mission capable status.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The 635th SCOW is the War Reserve Materiel expert as they oversee the Pre-positioned WRM Program Integration Office responsible for integrating assets world-wide. Fuller said the combined WRM team sourced vehicles and support equipment for deployment and MG 23 use.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cAMC is exercising what equipment they will need and where they will need it postured to enable Agile Combat Employment on demand. So, Mobility Guardian will help inform each of our commands on an optimal global laydown of WRM,\u201d Klohr<\/span> said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Moore added the logistics community is answering Richardson\u2019s call to incorporate powerful digital tools and real progress is being made to become more predictive. One that is maturing and demonstrating its value is called CSPEC, short for Combat Support Planning, Execution and Control. Another is BLADE, the Air Force\u2019s Basing and Logistics Analytics Data Environment.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe are moving beyond Excel and PowerPoint,\u201d Moore said. \u201c<\/span>So we have modeling and simulation, analysis tools, forecasting based on planned flying activity in the theater, forecasting what the demands are going to be for different categories of resources, like parts, munitions, fuel.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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AFSC also deployed two Aircraft Battle Damage Repair teams to MG23. These special-duty, multi-qualified enlisted technicians bring the capability to perform depot-level repairs in the field. One six-person team deployed to <\/span>Yokota Air Base, Japan<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/strong>, and another dozen to <\/span>Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam<\/span><\/strong>,<\/span><\/span><\/a> Hawaii<\/span>. In wartime, these skilled maintainers meet up with their \u201cbattle wagon\u201d of tools and materials to perform heavy maintenance and return damaged aircraft to the fight.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe were Multi-Capable Airmen before MCA was cool and a \u2018thing,\u2019\u201d said Master Sgt. Kyle Sommerfeldt, with the ABDR program office at <\/span>Wright-Patterson<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/strong> AFB<\/span>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Klohr also noted that the<\/span> Air Force Research Laboratory<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/a> is helping lead the service\u2019s quest to field modernized common aviation support equipment. An example is generators which can support different aircraft types and utilize multiple input power sources with multiple power output voltages. The goal is to improve reliability and performance and reduce the logistics footprint.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“MG23 will provide a lot of must-learn lessons to get better,\u201d Klohr added. \u201cWe will learn, adjust, improve our processes and <\/span>[tactics, techniques and procedures] so we can deliver war winning capabilities.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFNS) — \u00a0 Wartime contingency and campaign planners can learn a lot from a major multi-national exercise, with dozens of aircraft carrying thousands of participants and moving tons of materiel and equipment across the Indo-Pacific theater.\u00a0 \u201cThis exercise is really highlighting how the AFMC logistics enterprise supports the warfighter,\u201d said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":19790,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19788"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19791,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19788\/revisions\/19791"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}