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Exercise ended, real-world ready

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jacob T. Stephens
  • 355th Wing Public Affairs

The 355th Wing executed Exercise Bushwhacker 19-08 at several locations from Oct. 28 to Nov. 8.


The Dynamic Wing focuses on the 355th Wing's ability to pick up rescue and attack missions' personnel and cargo, move into an austere and contested location and expand into these areas using forward adaptive basing.


"The Dynamic Wing answers General Goldfien's charge to be able to take a wing, deploy it into a contested environment with austere conditions,  be able to operate out of that environment, and then be able to receive follow on forces with minimal command and control," said Col. Michael R. Drowley, 355th Wing Commander. "This helps answer the National Defense Strategy as far as how we will deploy our forces and create problem sets for our adversaries and our near peer competitors."


The exercise was held primarily at Libby Army Airfield with alternate spokes on the East Range Training Ground, Fort Huachuca, and Davis-Monthan. These environments simulated conditions that Airmen can expect to face in a real-world scenario.


"Our Airmen received extremely valuable training reps in new environments that bolstered their confidence, developed their leadership skills and ultimately increased their readiness to face the challenging operational environment ahead," said Lt. Col. Russell Fette, 355th Wing plans and programs chief.


As the climate of war changes, more is required of Airmen and the execution of the Dynamic Wing concept.


"The last time we employed the Dynamic Wing in an exercise we focused on the A-10 [Thunderbolt II] operations, but during this iteration we brought together rescue and attack assets to accomplish the mission," said Drowley. "We have gone from executing just a mission focus to a complete wing focus. This has been more broad based with our joint partners and Air Force partners in making gains to being able to employ force in support of the NDS."


Bushwhacker 19-08 included support from the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Army, Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, Robins AFB, Georgia, and 355th Wing Airmen from a geographically separated unit at Nellis AFB, Nevada. This joint effort helps hone in the Department of Defense's mission to deter war, protect security, prepare to win and negotiate from a position of strength.


"The biggest takeaway from this iteration of the Dynamic Wing exercise is our ability to work through problems while still getting the job done," said Drowley. "The biggest lesson we always come back to is how it takes leadership to thrive in this environment. We are trying to create that next set of leaders that can continue on to get the mission done."


The Airmen of the 355th Wing are learning their role in the joint fight to provide autonomous and agile forces that execute at speeds outpacing enemy planning cycles to create a U.S. military advantage while approaching every problem with a multi-functional mindset that is focused on and dedicated to mission success.


"This exercise was a highly successful validation of our concept for agile combat employment with a deployable wing," said Fette. "We are truly leading the Air Force, as evidenced by the many leaders from other wings and commands that flew in to observe our operations or have called with questions. This wasn't easy and it has been a heavy lift for a long time, but our Airmen should be extremely proud of where the year of planning, training and exercising has brought us. I'm excited and proud to be a part of the continual development of our Dynamic Wing."


The wing keeps personnel ready to deploy on short notice, defend the base and operate in high-threat environments. This exercise ensures Airmen can function in their primary job against a near-peer threat while also executing defined skills outside of their primary job to allow the wing to execute its overall mission.


 "This exercise has allowed us to work on our skill sets, work on our leadership to be able to get our mission done and we are finding that we lead the Air Force in how we communicate and how we are able to deploy with our multi-functional Airmen that we have to get the job done," said Drowley. "What we have done out here is not easy but our Airmen have kept a positive attitude while leading through tough circumstances and the work that they have done here will ensure that our nation is safe."
The 355th Wing is proving its ability to rapidly deploy while developing and improving the Dynamic Wing  as well as the Airmen that support it.


Rescue and attack.