KADENA AIR BASE, Japan -- Airmen assigned to the 18th Wing recently transitioned into a routine, mission-focused, training exercise aimed at sharpening skills needed to provide the United States, her allies and the Indo-Pacific region with high-end readiness capabilities.
The two-week exercise designed to simulate contingency operations offers Airmen the opportunity to build airpower from the ground up, while also ensuring they develop the skills and attributes needed to compete, deter and win in a high-end fight.
“Kadena Air Base’s strategic location, size and array of combat capabilities make us a powerful deterrent as well as a critical staging platform for disaster relief and other humanitarian operations in the region,” said Brig. Gen. David Eaglin, 18th Wing commander. “Through exercises like this, we are able to increase our readiness and demonstrate to the region and the world that we are capable of executing our mission when our nation calls upon us.”
Broken into two unique phases, phase one allows Airmen to apply their core career field capabilities in all warfighting domains: air, land, sea, space and cyber to process, deploy and sustain operations for personnel, cargo, and aircraft.
All key components to fighting with an “Integrated Deterrence” mindset, as outlined by Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and new changes to the National Defense Strategy.
“Phase 1 exercises allow us to enhance force generation competencies to ensure mission support teams are ready to rapidly respond to emergent requirements and mobilize the joint force,” said Maj. Randall Davis, 18th Logistics Readiness Squadron Director of Operations. “By synchronizing efforts with mission generation and employment capabilities across domains, we strengthen our readiness today to prepare for the challenges of tomorrow.”
Kadena’s routine training comes after Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown, Jr. charged the force with ensuring all Airmen have renewed focus on preparation, readiness and an understanding of their role in long-term strategic competitions.
A charge that necessitates Airmen adapt processes for efficient collaboration and decision making at the lowest appropriate level to effectively deter aggression through delivering decisive air and cyberspace capabilities.
“We as an aircraft maintenance unit have been focusing on cross-utilization training,” said Staff Sgt. Vincent Pollastrini, 909th AMU flying crew chief. “Cross-utilization training builds important skills that our Airmen use to perform other shop’s jobs with a higher degree of proficiency. Well-trained Airmen are willing to assume more control and responsibility over their jobs requiring less supervision, which directly increases efficiency and readiness.”
During phase two, members will test and be evaluated on their survival and operating proficiency and unity of effort in all domains under both conventional and contaminated environment scenarios.
“Regardless of how far they [Airmen] work from a cockpit, every member of the 18th Wing plays a vital role in projecting air power in defense of Japan and our Allies.” said Col. Ronald Schochenmaier, 18 WG vice commander. “The readiness and teamwork solidified in these training events strengthen that role and bolster the 18th Wing’s share of integrated deterrence across the Western Pacific.”
Since the start of the exercise, Airmen have processed more than 150 tons of military cargo, simulated deploying hundreds personnel to a simulated location and generated a capabilities demonstration, consisting of more than 24 F-15C/D Eagles, a KC-135 Stratotanker and an E-3 Sentry and an HH-60 Pavehawk.
The successful execution of this exercise relies on the tireless efforts of 6,500 Airmen, each contributing unique capabilities to empower the U.S. Air Force’s largest combat wing.
“It takes a phenomenal amount of hard work, skill and grit to make this machine work, but the 18th Wing continues to rise to the challenge,” said Eaglin. “I am tremendously proud of the team’s performance so far.”