NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev.— High in the clouds over the Nevada Test and Training Range near Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, a crew of more than 20 Airmen aboard an E-3 Sentry (AWACS) work diligently on a multitude of missions. They’re tasks include providing accurate picture of the battlespace to the Combined Air Operations Center back at Nellis AFB. Within the confines of the CAOC and other operations centers, Airmen Marines monitor air and ground threats and relay vital information to aircrew members.
The constant communication from these units provides real-time surveillance of a particular area of responsibility to the many fighter, bomber and support aircraft to assist with successful mission completion.
Through the air and cyberspace, Airmen and Marines from three different Department of Defense units combined to provide joint-operating, command and control tripod to 23 joint and allied units during Red Flag 16-2 Feb. 29-March 11, 2016.
Airmen from the 726th Air Control Squadron out of Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, and Marines from Marine Air Control Squadron 1 out of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California, work jointly, as they would in today’s wartime operations, to effectively mitigate enemy threats. Depending on the mission, MACS 1 members can have their hands in facilitating every mission during Red Flag 16-2 and act as a liaison between all services command and control components.
“Red Flag is the premier exercise with a very high operations tempo,” said Capt. Marco Arriaga, MACS 1 Red Flag 16-2 detachment commander. “There’s so many different mission sets and it’s the closest thing to a real-world environment we have.”
Arriaga added opportunities such as Red Flag exposes his Marines to more sorties than a Marine Corps specific exercise and that diversity enhances preparedness for real-world events in the future.
From a Marine Corps perspective, MACS 1 members manipulate tactical picture from command consoles and communicate with joint and coalition forces in the air. Likewise, Airmen from the 726th ACS provide an Air Force view and work cohesively with their Marine counterparts, an opportunity which could prove to be critical once deployed.
“Downrange we also work with the Marines,” said Senior Master Sgt. John Jones, 726th ACS operations superintendent. “We are always in joint operations when deployed and by sharing and coming together as a command and control community (at Red Flag) we learn techniques that benefit everyone. (Here we can) practice lateral command and control coordination and develop better communication between command and control components.”
The 726th ACS deployed a radar system and team to the Nevada Test and Training Range to assist with Red Flag 16-2. Jones said by doing this, it adds another capability to other radars and gives redundant capabilities for providing command and control if other systems become inoperable.
“This provides us the ability to prove the (value of the) tactics and procedures we train with back home,” Jones said. “Red Flag gives us a unique opportunity to do air to air mission sets. “When we’re downrange we usually do air to ground missions. This gives us an opportunity to complete more robust scenarios and taking these practices into a larger mission gets us used to the high operations tempos we’ll see while deployed.”
Part of the robust scenarios the Marines and Airmen faced, were working with units they aren’t familiar with, such as the 963rd Airborne Air Control Squadron out of Tinker AFB, Oklahoma. With their E-3 AWACS providing the third leg of the command and control tripod, the 963rd provided an aerial perspective of the war.
The AWACS provides situational awareness of friendly, neutral and hostile activity, command and control of an area of responsibility, battle management of theater forces, all-altitude and all-weather surveillance of the battle space, and early warning of enemy actions during joint, allied, and coalition operations.
Capt. Denise White, 963rd AACS senior director, referred to the AWACS capabilities as providing a “God’s eye view” of the fight to ensure mission accomplishment by building a three-dimensional picture for fighters and bombers to identify targets.
White added that command and control is the glue holding everything together. The tankers provide fuel, the fighters and bombers are neutralizing threats, but we develop how the mission happens and take those capabilities to provide a single, united front with everyone involved, including our coalition partners.
“The opportunity at Red Flag is awesome,” White said. “Being here gives us the chance to plan and debrief with joint and coalition units. We’re all going to execute this mission downrange and this exercise helps us build relationships and interoperability.”
White said exercises such as Red Flag gives units the opportunity to understand each other’s limitations and capabilities as well as understanding the different approaches and methods unique to each service and allied partner.
While each individual unit has its distinctive traits, the consensus amongst all command and control units revolved around building upon fundamentals learned at home station remaining focused on commonalities between both joint and allied partners.
“Anytime we can integrate with our allied partners is great,” Jones said. “Working with nations we don’t usually train with helps us communicate more effectively to accomplish the mission.”
Having the ability to work closely with allies here helps my guys know how to operate and not miss a beat when working with them again downrange, Jones added.
For more than a decade, the joint and allied partnerships have been a continuous experience for members of the U.S. Armed Forces. While the wartime environment is ever-changing, large force exercises such as Red Flag continue to provide a constant opportunity for joint units and allied nations to come together, build fluidity in their all aspects of air operations while establishing foundational relationships to successfully complete the mission around in the world.