Aurora, Colorado —When three elements of the Air Force begin to take shape this summer, they will lay the foundation for new combat wings that are now viewed as deployable Air Force “action units” for future operations — a multi-year process to reorganize the way the service operates. Presents troops to the Department of Defense's 11 combatant commands.
The goal is to create predictable work schedules and unit cohesion for Airmen while enhancing the service's ability to identify risks and resource requirements to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Secretary of Defense.
The three air task forces that will be formed this summer are the first of at least six planned task forces that will be formed, conduct operations together, and ultimately deploy as units in fiscal year 2026. Each task force will consist of a command element, a staff, and a unit Exploratory. Base Operations Support Air Base Squadron, Air Power Projection Mission Generation Force Element, and Mission Sustainment Team to enable remote operations under the Agile Combat Employment Concept of Operations.
“The air task forces we have assembled really speak to the evolution of rotational forces,” Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations Lt. Gen. Adrian Spain said at the AFA Warfare Symposium on Feb. 14. “But it also applies to standing forces and theater forces. Combat air wings talk to the rest of the force. … What we're trying to do is build combat effectiveness over time with cohesive teams.”
Like ATFs, combat wings will be commanded by a command element with an aircrew to execute command and control; A mission element, such as a fighter, bomber, or airlift squadron, for example; and a combat service support element to manage the air base and airspace and care for the needs of wing personnel.
Dean. Gen. David Epperson, director of current operations at U.S. Air Forces Headquarters, said elements of the task force command will stand still this summer, while supporting elements will come together in teams of 100 to 150 people at two or three base locations. These elements will come together for training and when it is time to deploy. This way, when teams are deployed as a single unit, individuals will already have experience working together during the action phase.
In the long term, combat wings will come in three types:
- Deployable Combat Wings (DCW): Entire units that can be deployed together, with their own native command, control, mission and support elements. Citing the 366th Fighter Wing at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, as one possible example, Spain said such units would have to be able to “fully pick up and go as a working unit” and would be provided with the necessary resources to do so, leaving behind only those capabilities necessary to maintain On the rule in its absence.
- In Place Combat Wings (ICW): Entire units with command, mission, and support elements that fight from home station, such as the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont. The missiles fight from their home station, and while some elements of the wing may be deployed elsewhere, the unit must be able to conduct its mission activities around the clock, regardless.
- Combat Generation Wings (CGW)Third wing element: These are units that provide elements of power to others, whether those elements entail command and control; Mission elements, such as fighter, mobility, or intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance squadrons; Or service support elements that can be “installed” in a deployable combat wing. “The Combat Generation Pavilion is a little different,” Spain said. “You have elements that can be deployed, but the entire wing will not be deployed and the resources to do so will not be provided.”
Building on the new model
All of this will take time to build. The Expeditionary Air Base now in place at U.S. Central Command and the new Air Task Force is just the beginning.
“This is kind of a spiral of development,” Epperson said.
The first phase began in October, when the Air Force deployed its first Expeditionary Air Base (EAB) team to the Middle East, the first deployment cycle under the Air Force's new generation model, known as AFFORGEN. This unit arrived in the area about a week after Iran-backed Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, leading to an Israeli invasion of Gaza. This air base element, drawn largely from the South Carolina Air National Guard, included a core core that had previously trained together, as well as additional personnel joining the theater of operations.
“They were able to operate with confident speed from the moment they got on the ground,” Epperson said. “And that's really what we're trying to do with the Air Task Force.”
ATFs will go further, bringing teams of 100-250 Airmen together during the “preparation” phase of the AFFORGEN course, a full year before they are available for deployment. “They will train together in that unit,” Epperson said. “They will develop the skills of mission-ready Airmen, and they will learn the different missions that their entire team works on. They will — instead of functional alignment — begin to become mission aligned and mission focused.”
Deployable combat wings
The goal of deployable combat wings is to take the air task force concept one step further. DCWs will put the entire deployable team in one place; Live, work and train together throughout the AFFORGEN cycle. “So they know how to work together, command and control [element] “They know and understand all the elements, and they can really hit the ground running” when they land in theater, whether it's in the Indo-Pacific, Europe, Africa or the Middle East, Epperson said.
DCWs will hone their skills, including developing skills necessary for agile combat employment. “The intent is to fully resource this deployable combat wing to enable all of its combat missions, functions and responsibilities, including rapid combat employment,” Spain said.
“It is designed to fit into any C2 chassis and is located in the combatant commander's predominant command and control apparatus, and… it contains the elements required to receive orders, give commands, operate apart from mission command, and the commander's intentions if separated.” “.
Find loopholes and identify risks
By design, both DCW and ICW must be adequately equipped to deploy without leaving a dysfunctional base in their wake that cannot maintain security or maintain the facilities needed by those left behind. Each operational wing will be assessed and identified as one of the three types, with staffing requirements adjusted to support those requirements.
This will take some time, Epperson said. He added: “We will try to do things as efficiently as possible, but we realize that it will not be perfect from the beginning.” “It's going to take some evolution as we move through this process to make sure we know where all the right resources are, and how much they need.”
Spain said this process would reveal areas in need of growth and areas that could be overcrowded with labour. A generation ago, wings were built to be able to grab and go to fight; However, over the past thirty years or so, wing and base operations have been consolidated for efficiency, which was considered prudent given the global threats. Now, as the Air Force repositions and reoptimizes itself for great power competition with China, Chief of Staff Gen. David Alvin says a different kind of structure is needed.
“We need to ensure that our combat wings are cohesive operating units that have everything they need to be able to execute their wartime missions,” Alvin said.
At the same time, there has been a continuing increasing demand for the Air Force's fighters, bombers, C4ISR, mobility, and cyber forces. Although crowdsourcing to meet this demand has been successful, it has left the Air Force unable to explain to joint forces how meeting demand today can impact readiness tomorrow. Unlike the Army's brigade combat teams, the Navy's carrier strike groups, and the Marine Expeditionary Forces' Marine Expeditionary Units, the Air Force has not been able to define operational task units in a way that makes it clear that deploying this unit now would make it impossible to deploy another unit later.
“We can explain this more effectively and call for a certain way or means” to respond to the requirements of this structure, and to explain how this could affect the ability of a particular unit to deploy to some other emergency, Spain said. In the future.
But interpreting risks and resourcing more effectively are additional benefits, not the primary focus of the changing deployment model.
“It's about combat effectiveness,” Spain said. “The next fight will not be the same fight we have been fighting for the past 30 years.”
