57th Adversary Tactics Group switches leadership Published Jan. 18, 2007 By Lt. Col. Rich Pearcy 57th Adversary Tactics Support Squadron NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- The 57th Adversary Tactics Group welcomed a new commander to Nellis recently. Col. David Stilwell accepted command of the 57th ATG Jan. 10, picking up where his predecessor, Col Terrence O'Shaugnessy, left off. "Colonel O'Shaugnessy and his team did some magnificent work getting this thing off the ground," Colonel Stilwell noted. "Now we need to solidify this growing organization and demonstrate its value to the Air Force." With 20 years of operational, staff, and joint experience and 2,500 flying hours as a command pilot in the RF-4C and F-16, Colonel Stilwell is now challenged to command the biggest expansion of the Aggressor mission in Air Force history and fully realize Gen. T. Michael Moseley's vision of the 57th ATG as "Threats Central." The 57th ATG, an essential part of the 57th Wing and U.S. Air Force Warfare Center, is composed of more than 575 Airmen in nine active-duty, guard, and reserve squadrons. Each squadron is focused on understanding and replicating specific portions of the entire spectrum of air, surface-to-air, space, and cyber threats facing our forces today and tomorrow. The objective of consolidating all Aggressor activities under one group is to provide the Combat Air Forces with the opportunity to train against a realistic, fully integrated threat array during large- and small-scale exercises such as Red Flag - Nellis, Red Flag - Alaska, Maple Flag, Green Flag and dissimilar air combat training deployments. Colonel Stilwell now commands "the most capable 'red' force ever assembled." Whether directing threat tactics assessment programs, providing threat academics during road shows, or engaging friendly units on the Nellis ranges, the group remains focused on providing U.S., allied, and coalition forces with the expert knowledge and training they need to survive and win anywhere within the broad spectrum of conflict. Prior to assuming command of the 57th ATG, he served as chief of the programs division at Headquarters Air Combat Command. There he was responsible for establishing programming priorities to develop and maintain Combat Air Forces' capabilities, allocating more than 25 percent of the total Air Force budget (approximately $30 billion) on an annual basis.
