Black Knights Resurrected: 561st Joint Tactics Squadron prepares force, captures today's tactical issues Published June 6, 2007 By Maj. William Rondeau 561st Joint Tactics Squadron NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- A ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the official reactivation of the 561st Joint Tactics Squadron took place here June 5. Headquarters Air Force and Air Combat Command deemed it necessary to create an organization that specializes in deployment-preparation training and in capturing tactical lessons learned. After a decade of inactivity, the 561st JTS was reactivated in October 2006 as the single focal point for this mission. The task of the squadron is to rapidly compile and disseminate evolving tactics, techniques and procedures in the battlespace. These tactics, techniques and procedures are most effective in support of OIF and OEF. The squadron's singular focus is to ensure that deploying Air Expeditionary Forces are current, relevant and extremely well prepared for combat on day-one in theater. "The 561st was provisionally activated last October and since then there is an amazing list of accomplishments," said Maj. Gen. Mike Worden, U.S. Air Force Warfare Center commander. For example, the squadron quickly addressed senior Air Force leadership's vision of institutionalizing a tight dialog between warfighters in theater with those preparing to deploy. This critical dialog established a warfighters' forum website with recorded chat capabilities within the Air Force's Knowledge Now Portal - quickly rocketing to a membership of over 600 users, by far the largest community of practice within the Air Force Portal. The 561st is hosting AEF spin-up conferences (previously hosted by Central Command Air Forces) to prepare Airmen for deployment, and have pushed out 14 flash bulletins to keep our forces current and aware of the latest effective and validated tactics, techniques and procedures, the general added. The 561st JTS accomplishes its tasks with the help of subject matter experts from across the Combat Air Forces representing all relevant weapons systems, command and control, battlefield Airmen, mobility, space, and intelligence communities. In its first eight months, the 561st JTS has performed an immense amount of work in support of the Global War on Terrorism. When the squadron initially activated, there were limited mission processes for preparing the combat forces to fight. The complexity of putting together an executable plan for preparing 10 AEFs comprised of over 20 mission design series in various phases of training and overlapping timelines with hundreds of events seemed daunting at first. However, in less than five months, the 561st JTS produced a Concept of Operations and a two-year AEF/SME schedule, and developed multiple execution checklists to service all 10 AEFs. "Because of the 561st JTS, gone are the days where units showed up in a deployed location and needed the next two weeks to get ready," said General Worden. "The 561st partners closely with our Joint Air Ground Operations Group and Green Flag exercise to ensure our warriors are more ready than they have ever been to go downrange." The 561st also has U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps participation, and those services are some of the most active on the website. In 2006, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Michael Moseley stated, "As warriors, we must learn from lessons of the past to improve our current and future war-fighting capabilities. Our AF lessons learned process must influence our programming and budgeting as well as impact changes to training, material and doctrine. It must be focused on an enduring, real-time process and quickly disseminate critical lessons to Airmen so we can fly, fight and win." These words created a clear flight path for the 561st JTS. "Done right, I predict [the 561st] may well become the most famous squadron in the Combat Air Forces," said General Worden. "If you know your enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles." - Sun Tsu
