OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. —
As a Lead Wing, the Fightin’ Fifty-Fifth continues to search for methods to additional develop its mission integration capabilities by leveraging long-standing ties with different Air Force items in addition to with its coalition companions.
One of these traditionally sturdy relationships is with the 552nd Air Control Wing at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma.
The 552nd ACW gives all operations, upkeep, logistics, coaching and fight help for the E-3 AWACS.
As two wings which can be each very giant in measurement, have excessive ops tempo, fly comparable airframes, and share a world footprint, the fifty fifth Wing and 552nd ACW have quite a bit in frequent.
“Essentially, our two wings have operated together quite a bit over time, going back to when the ‘iron triad’ mantra was being built in the early 2000s,” mentioned Col. Keven Coyle, 552nd ACW commander, who was at Offutt Air Force Base just lately to function the Non-Kinetic Operations Coordination Course air element command and senior mentor.
The iron triad included all of the Air Force’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance plane. It was an general shift inside the service that sought to align extra carefully all these distinctive and specialised capabilities.
“What the ‘iron triad’ meant was together we are faster and more lethal than we ever are by ourselves,” Coyle mentioned. “The 135s and all of its variants have niche capabilities that are extremely important and needed. When you combine those with other platforms that have augmenting niche capabilities, we increase speed to target and increase speed and accuracy of information.”
As the Air Force seems to transition the best way it generates air energy throughout air operations in contested environments, having that continuity between items can be essential.
“We are looking at every available means to prepare our wing to lead the future fight,” mentioned Col. Kristen Thompson, fifty fifth Wing commander. “Therefore, it’s important for us to partner with our smart teammates at the 552nd ACW to ensure we build integration between our two warfighting wings.”
Thompson began her Air Force profession as an E-3 pilot. Both her and Coyle are former 960th Airborne Air Control Squadron commanders, and that familiarity solely helps to additional nurture that partnership.
“We’ve always had a lot of cross flow over the years,” Coyle mentioned. “The 55th Wing’s electronic warfare officers come down to Tinker, our navigators go up to Offutt, and we tend to share pilot talent a lot.”
The two items just lately teamed as much as help Exercise Resolute Hunter, a multi-national and joint service train at Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada.
“The only place we normally get to work together often is at Red Flag, so bringing us all together at Resolute Hunter was great,” Coyle mentioned.
In addition to the usual train which serves to enhance battle administration, C2 and ISR integration and readiness throughout the Department of Defense and with our coalition companions, the fifty fifth Wing additionally used Resolute Hunter to check its Lead Wing capabilities.
The Warhawks used Fallon as their Main Operating Base with Forward Operating Stations at Offutt and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona.
“It was the first time for a lot of our team to go out into an austere environment and execute C2,” Thompson mentioned. “It was a great experience, and we’ll continue to take those opportunities to learn so that we’re ready to execute when called upon.”
Coyle mentioned because the Lead Wing idea grows, it’s good that items just like the fifty fifth Wing have the chance to steer C2 for forces just like the 552 ACW given their general mission set.
“A C2 ISR Lead Wing is probably more aligned with us given the constraints and issues we tend to have with heavy aircraft like ours,” he mentioned.
As the fifty fifth Wing undergoes modifications as a Lead Wing, the 552 ACW can also be making ready for some modifications of its personal as it’s going to transition from the E-3 to the E-7 over the following few years.
“It’s very exciting to be part of that and leading that change for our platforms,” Coyle mentioned. “Our E-3s have a lot of great capabilities, but the E-7 will bring even more.”
However, one factor that gained’t be altering is the 2 wings enduring relationship.
“Our partnership with the 55th Wing as we transition to the E-7 is going to get even stronger,” Coyle mentioned. “We’ll see even more connective tissue between our two wings over time.”
“We’re very grateful for the ties we have to the 552nd ACW, and we look forward to building upon that in the future,” Thompson mentioned.
