KADENA AIR BASE, Japan -- The 623rd Air Control Squadron successfully moved Tactical Operations Center-Lite equipment on two HH-60G Pave Hawks from Kadena Air Base to Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, July 18, 2023. This movement was ground-breaking on three fronts that encompass Agile Combat Employment concepts.
This task would have historically consisted of 15 fully-loaded C-130J Super Hercules, but has since been reduced to nine black pelican cases onboard two HH-60 G Pave Hawks. Such a significant reduction of material is key to efficiently executing air control operations under ACE.
“What we’ve done is taken government and commercial off-the-shelf equipment and put it into nine cases,” said U.S. Air Force Capt. Ellen Herrmann, 623rd Air Control Squadron Chief of Weapons and Tactics. “So we can now use it in a more agile fashion.”
Agile Combat Employment is about innovation and efficiency, and the 623rd ACS setting up command and control at a sister service installation is a brand new concept.
“This increases the amount of connections we can make when we have to move around, using either host nation or standing military sensors that we can plug into.” said Herrmann.
The TOC-Lite movement is a force multiplier that strengthens communications across the Indo-Pacific region and increases overall survivability.