New F-15EX Is ‘Awesome’ to Fly, Guard F-15C Pilots Say Ahead of Transition

March 18, 2024 | By David Roza

Pilots from the Oregon Air National Guard’s 142nd Wing—poised to be the first operational unit for the F-15EX later this year—gave the new fighter rave reviews after becoming the first members of their unit to fly the aircraft at a training course in Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. earlier this month.

“My impression of the F- 15EX after flying it for the first time was that it is an awesome, awesome aircraft,” Lt. Col. Joel “Thermo” Thesing, said in a press release published March 15.

A member of Oregon’s 123rd Fighter Squadron, Thesing currently pilots the F-15C, the aging single-seat air superiority fighter flown by Air National Guard units in Oregon, California, Florida, Louisiana, and Massachusetts. Oregon’s Portland-based 142nd Wing expects to switch to the F-15EX starting summer. Dubbed the Eagle II, the two-seat EX promises higher speed, longer range, increased payload, and more advanced technology than previous variants. It didn’t take Thesing long to notice the improvements.

“The engines feel like they have a lot more power than those in the C-model, and the radar and avionics are a generational improvement over the F-15C as well,” he said in the release.

Thesing was among five F-15C instructor pilots from Oregon to attend the two-week training course, which started the first week of March. They are not the first Air National Guard pilots to fly the F-15EX, but they are the first from the upcoming first operational unit of the EX, 142nd spokesperson Steve Conklin told Air & Space Forces Magazine. Training a C-model pilot to fly the EX takes only about two weeks, he said.

The plan is for the instructor pilots to take their knowledge back to Portland to train the rest of the wing as it transitions to the F-15EX.

“We are excited to be at the forefront of this acquisition and lead as an Air National Guard unit,” Conklin said. “Our Airmen are fully capable and enthused to be trailblazers for the Air Force in the State of Oregon.”

Historically, the Oregon Air National Guard’s 173rd Fighter Wing hosted F-15C/D training at Klamath Falls, Ore., but that wing is due to become an F-35 formal training unit. Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., will take over all basic F-15 training in early 2026, with follow-on training on graduates’ specific model at their first unit.

One of the changes pilots must adapt to in the EX is a fly-by-wire system, where electrical wires replace the usual cables in relaying a pilot’s commands to the aircraft. Another change is the cockpit display: the EX does away with old-school small screens and dials in favor of large touchscreen displays similar to those found in an F-35. One former F-15E pilot was excited about the new tech.

“When I look at this thing it makes me salivate a little bit,” former Air Force Maj. Ryan Bodenheimer said on his YouTube channel in 2023. “The F-15E was great but the screens on that thing were small, they needed updating,” and they were difficult to see depending on the outside light.

Bodenheimer recalled weapons systems officers, who ride in the backseat of the F-15E, covering their helmets and displays with maps so they could operate the navigation and targeting pods through “this little tiny soda straw screen.”

“This is going to be a huge force multiplier because it increases your situational awareness by allowing you to just kind of breathe and see what’s going on, without having the anxiety of thinking ‘OK, I’ve got to be so careful because I could miss the tiniest little green blip on my screen that could be something that I needed to see,’” he said.

But old habits die hard, and Thesing said flying the EX will take some adjustment.

“The initial work will take a lot of studying and practice to get the basics of flying the aircraft down and learning its systems, and that process has a steep learning curve, and never really ends for as long as you’re a pilot,” he said in the release. “That being said, I look forward to when the focus can shift from how to fly the EX, to how to employ it tactically.”

The Air Force currently has four F-15EXs, all of which are being tested at Eglin. The service initially planned to purchase 144 as an advanced fourth-generation replacement for the old F-15C/Ds. But now the service says it will cap the fleet at 98. At one time, the Air Force expected to buy upwards of 180 F-15EXs.

Niger Junta Calls for US to Leave, but Pentagon Says Troops Remain at Air Bases for Now

March 18, 2024 | By Chris Gordon

Niger’s ruling military junta says U.S. troops must leave the country, which would deprive the U.S. military of key air bases used for counterterrorism operations including one that the U.S. military spent over $100 million dollars to build just a few years ago. But the Pentagon isn’t giving up hope of losing their presence in the restive Sahel region of Africa just yet, U.S. officials said March 18.

“We want to see our partnership continue if there is a pathway forward,” deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters. “We are working through diplomatic channels to seek clarification. These are ongoing discussions.”

The head of U.S. Africa Command Marine Corps Gen. Michael E. Langley, assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs Celeste Wallander, and assistant secretary of state for African affairs Molly Phee traveled to Niger last week to meet with members of the military junta, known by its French acronym CNSP, American officials said.

Those conversations were “lengthy and direct,” Singh said.

However, on March 16, a spokesman for the junta said the U.S. troops were no longer permitted in the country and denounced America.

The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. officials raised concerns about the junta considering allowing Tehran to gain access to Niger’s uranium reserves for its nuclear program.

“We had direct conversations about some of our concerns, about … pursuing relationships with Russia and Iran,” Singh said. “But I wouldn’t say it’s an ultimatum.”

The U.S. presence in Niger has been largely consolidated to one base, Air Base 201, which is far away from the capital of Niamey, where the other U.S. base, Air Base 101, is located. A letter President Joe Biden sent to Congress in December 2023 said roughly 650 American personnel remained in Niger, though Singh said the current number of personnel is approximately 1,000.

“If Western operations are significantly impacted by this, it’s going to be bad for the Nigerien people,” retired Army Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, who led AFRICOM from 2019-2022, told Air & Space Forces Magazine in July 2023 shortly after the coup. “It’s going to be bad for the region.”

The U.S. has flown drones, such as Air Force MQ-9s, to gather intelligence on militant groups in the region, including al-Qaeda, Islamic State affiliates, and Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), a terrorist group active in Niger and other parts of West Africa. In 2017, four American service members were killed while hunting for an Islamic State leader.

The U.S. held off calling the July 2023 overthrow of the democratically-elected president of Niger, Mohammad Bazoum, a coup until October, a move that legally required the U.S. to cut off military assistance such as training and support of Nigerien forces.

U.S. officials say drone operations have been restricted to force protection reconnaissance missions and troops have been staying on base.

“There have been no counterterrorism [missions] either unilaterally or with the Nigerien government since the July coup,” Singh said.

For now, the U.S. appears to be holding out hope it can salvage some form of presence in Niger. Neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso had coups in 2021 and 2022, respectively, and are now ruled by Russian-aligned leaders. It remains unclear where the U.S. could operate to conduct counterterrorism missions in the unstable Sahel region if its forces leave Niger for good.

“I’m not going to preview what things could look like in the region,” Singh said. “I can tell you that Gen. Langley is certainly engaged with other partners there.”

Air National Guard No. 2 Nominated to Become New Director

March 18, 2024 | By Chris Gordon

President Joe Biden has nominated Maj. Gen. Duke A. Pirak to pin on a third star and become the next director of the Air National Guard, the Pentagon announced March 18. If confirmed by the Senate, Pirak will replace the current head of the ANG, Lt. Gen. Michael A. Loh, who is set to retire in the coming months as he nears the end of his four-year tenure.

Pirak already serves as Loh’s No. 2 as the deputy director of the Air National Guard, a job he has held since February 2022.

He is poised to take charge of the Air National Guard as it has gained prominence in recent months, from taking on the high-profile mission to train Ukrainian pilots to the fallout from a major leak of classified information from an Airman at a Massachusetts Air National Guard intelligence unit. The ANG also makes up roughly one-fourth of the Air Force’s aircraft fleet and comprises over 100,000 Airmen.

Pirak’s nomination was sent to the Senate on March 14 and referred to the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Since 2018, Pirak has spent most of his time working at the Pentagon. When Air Force Gen. Joseph L. Lengyel was Chief of the National Guard Bureau, Pirak served for a year as director of the Chief’s Action Group from 2018-2019. Before becoming deputy director of the ANG, he was deputy director for political-military affairs for Africa on the Joint Staff from 2021-2022. In between those roles, Pirak had a two-year assignment as deputy director of strategy, plans, and policy at U.S. Central Command from 2019-2021.

Pirak, who has more than 2,700 flight hours, has also commanded at the squadron, group, and wing levels, including a stint as the head of the Oregon Air National Guard’s 142nd Wing in Portland, an F-15C/D unit.

While Pirak spent most of his career flying the F-15C/D, he is poised to lead the ANG through a pivotal transition as it retires its Eagles and older F-16s in favor of new F-35s and F-15EXs.

“The Air Force is facing a fighter recapitalization crisis and it’s very acute in the Air National Guard where traditionally we have the majority of the legacy fighters,” Pirak said at AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference in September 2023.

The Guard is also home to around half of the service’s nearly 500 tankers, which are also going through a transition as KC-135s from the 1950s-60s are being replaced by KC-46s. Meanwhile, the ANG is seeing some of its missions transform, such as Maryland’s A-10 unit that will transition to a cyberspace wing.

Navigating the Air Force’s plans for modernization is set to be one of Pirak’s toughest jobs, an issue he is already heavily involved with in his current role. The lingering question over what to do with the space mission in the ANG will also likely be a major focus during Pirak’s tenure.

“If you stand down a Guard unit that’s been at this business for a while, with all the experience and capability, unlike the active duty Air Force, it’s very difficult to build that back up,” Pirak said in 2023. “We have this discussion not at the expense of anybody else, but we want that rising tide to lift everybody.”

USAF Plans $28.48 Billion over 5 Years to Develop New Advanced Fighters, Drone Escorts

March 16, 2024 | By John A. Tirpak

The Air Force plans to dramatically ramp up spending on the Next Generation Air Dominance fighter program in the coming years, to the tune of $28.48 billion fiscal 2025-29, according to newly released budget documents. That figure includes the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, which will produce uncrewed, semi-autonomous “escort” aircraft to fly alongside NGAD.

The NGAD is the Air Force’s highest-priority air dominance program and is slated to replace the F-22 beginning around 2030. It’s characterized as a “family of systems,” which includes CCAs, of which Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has said the service will build at least 1,000 units, with the first ones ready for combat in 2028.

No official buy objective for NGAD has ever been stated, but service leaders have hinted at fleet sizes in the 200-250 range. Kendall has also said the crewed NGAD will cost in the “multiple hundreds of millions” of dollars per aircraft. The first increment of CCA drones are expected to cost around $30 million each.

The crewed aircraft at the center of the NGAD formation is expected to be an ultra-stealthy platform, escorted or aided by CCAs that will perform sensing, jamming, communications relay, and targeting functions. They will also carry additional munitions that can be aimed by the one pilot in the formation or attack targets on their own. Air Force leaders have said there may be two variants of the NGAD: one for the European theater and a longer-range version optimized for the Pacific theater.

The Air Force expects to award development contracts this year to two companies for NGAD and three for CCA.

In 2025, the service is asking for nearly $2.75 billion for NGAD, a leap of $1.2 billion over the amount requested in the fiscal 2024 budget request, which has not yet been approved by Congress. The CCA program is budgeted for around $577 million, an increase of $170 million over 2024.

Over the future years defense plan (2025-29), the Air Force is planning $19.6 billion in research, development, test, and evaluation for NGAD alone, on top of $8.9 billion for just CCA.

Segment	2025	2026	2027	2028	2029
Total NGAD program element	$3.306 billion	$3.684 billion	$5.396 billion	$7.247 billion	$8.289 billion
NGAD only	$2.749 billion	$3.189 billion	$3.742 billion	$4.201 billion	$5.723 billion
CCA only	$577.1 million	$494.9 million	$1.654 billion	$3.046 billion	$3.106 billion

Source: Air Force budget documents

Although CCA drones are set to be operational as early as 2028, and the NGAD circa 2030, no procurement or long-lead funding for production was specified in the Air Force procurement budget request. A service official said this was likely due to operational secrecy concerns.

The Air Force is also asking for $300 million over the FYDP for the Autonomous Collaborative Program, in which it will explore manned-unmanned teaming, swarm tactics, and collaboration among CCAs. That funding line rises steadily from $51 million in 2025 to $65.2 million in 2029.

The Air Force’s RDT&E budget justification documents say that after a contractor is picked for NGAD engineering and manufacturing development, activities will include building an open-architecture framework for mission systems and “design, build and test of” of an all-up weapon systems, including “development, integration, test and building demonstrative prototypes.”

The program will “continue to conduct analyses, identify technology candidates and perform concept refinements,” and there will be fabrication of “spectral dominance platforms,” suggesting an uncrewed electronic warfare escort for the platform.

“Additional details … cannot be provided at this classification level,” the documents note.

For CCA, the fiscal 2025 plan calls for further analysis to “identify technology candidates, perform concept refinement studies, development, integration, test, prototyping, and demonstrations, as well as crewed systems integration to reduce risk and mature CCA concepts and air superiority related technologies in support of the NGAD.”

Crewed and uncrewed aircraft attack targets in this conceptual illustration of DARPA’s LongShot Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) operating in concert with conventional fighter jets. Acquiring CCA sooner, rather than later, could be crucial to deterring China from attempting to seize Taiwan. **General Atomics**

The NGAD figures don’t include the Next Generation Adaptive Propulsion (NGAP) program, which will develop new engines for the NGAD that will provide improvements in acceleration and range over the F-35’s F135 engine. The NGAP will derive from the Adaptive Engine Transition Program (AETP), in which GE Aerospace and Raytheon’s Pratt & Whitney developed engines that could fit the F-35 and provide increased thrust and range. That program was abandoned because it could not benefit users of F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing variants, and because the AIr Force could not afford to develop the engine for its F-35As on its own.

The NGAD line items also don’t include new weapons being developed for it, to include the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM).

The Air Force quoted slightly different figures for NGAD and CCA in its budget briefing charts than in its justification books, saying in the charts that the NGAD overall line item is $3.390 billion for 2025, of which $2.831 billion is for the NGAD platform and $559 million is for CCA. It also said it is investing $116 billion “across several other program elements for CCA autonomy testing and non-material solutions, totaling $675 [million] toward CCA development.”

A service spokesperson could not immediately explain the discrepancy but suggested that the charts included elements of some related technology efforts.

US Air Force C-17s Join in on Gaza Aid Airdrops

March 15, 2024 | By Chris Gordon

The U.S. Air Force has begun using large, quad-jet C-17s to airdrop aid into Gaza, as the U.S. leaders express increasing concern about the humanitarian situation there.

On March 17, two U.S. Air Force C-17s dropped over 28,800 meals and 34,500 bottles of water over northern Gaza—first two-ship USAF C-17 aid airdrop over the enclave, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said. A U.S. C-17 also conducted an airdrop with C-130s on March 13 and March 15, as the U.S. has bolstered its airlift presence in the region assigned to Air Forces Central (AFCENT). The U.S. has conducted nearly daily airdrops, and 13 since the U.S. began aid airdrops into Gaza on March 2, according to CENTCOM.

In recent weeks, the Biden administration and international groups have pressed to do more about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, which is governed by Hamas and has been besieged and bombed by Israel during its war with the military group after its Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza are at risk of famine, United Nations officials have warned.

The U.S. is going to increasingly significant lengths to get food and other humanitarian aid into Gaza. Recently, a flotilla of U.S. Army ships left port in Virginia, where they will cross the Atlantic and build a complex, makeshift port off the coast of Gaza. Some 1,000 U.S. troops will construct a floating pier and a roughly 1,800-foot-long causeway attached to the shore—called Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (JLOTS). Vessels and barges will transport the aid from the pier to the causeway. From the causeway, vehicles will then deliver the aid into Gaza. But that process won’t happen for roughly 60 days, the Pentagon said last week.

In the meantime, the U.S. is conducting airdrops and pushing Israel to allow more land corridors of aid into Gaza by truck. C-130s can carry roughly a truckload of aid, while C-17s have a much larger cargo capacity.

U.S. Air Force loadmasters watch as humanitarian aid for Gaza is airdropped from an Air Mobility Command C-17 Globemaster III from an undisclosed location in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, March 13, 2024. Joint Base Charleston deployed C-17s to further enhance airdrop efforts to deliver humanitarian aid into Gaza. U.S. Air Force photo

The Air Force C-17s arrived in AFCENT from Joint Base Charleston in recent days, but a U.S. official declined to specify how many C-17s are now in the Middle East or if more are planning to arrive. However, the official said the number of crews qualified to conduct airdrops has increased. Some C-17s were already present in the region, and the U.S. has not disclosed where the C-17 missions over Gaza have originated. U.S. C-130s have been taking off from Jordan, which first began the airdrop effort.

“They’re great partners,” Air Forces Central Commander Lt. Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich said as Air & Space Forces Magazine accompanied him across the region in early February, before the airdrops began. “With all the tension in the region, being able to have frank and honest conversations about the way forward and how we’re going to work together in areas where we can collaborate is always valued.”

Since AFCENT started conducting airdrops over Gaza, it has conducted some joint sorties with the Royal Jordanian Air Force, including during the first U.S. mission. AFCENT and Jordan carried out their latest joint mission on March 16.

A growing coalition of countries are conducting airdrops, but many aid groups say the drops are insufficient to feed the hundreds of thousands of people in need. In addition to the limited amound of aid aircraft can carry, airdrops can also be dangerous for those on the ground. A C-17 that appeared to belong to the United Arab Emirates airdropped aid that reportedly killed five people when a parachute failed to deploy last week. CENTCOM said the U.S. was not involved in the incident.

The U.S. says increasing land aid routes is the best option, which Israel has resisted.

“That’s something that we continue to pressure,” deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said on March 14. “We continue to want to see humanitarian aid increase into Gaza. The best way to do that is by land options. Those are clearly, you know, not viable at this time.”

For now, airdrops will have to do, the Pentagon says.

“As you are seeing, this department is working around the clock to also provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, whether that be through airdrops … and then, of course, the floating pier that we will be setting up that will be off the coast of Gaza, that will be able to get whether it be—meals, water, whatever else the people need—be able to flow that into Gaza at a more regular rate,” Singh added.

Editor’s Note: This article was updated on March 17 after additional airdrops.

USAF Slashes Plans for MH-139 Helicopter Fleet Size, Locations

March 15, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

The Air Force is dramatically scaling back its plans for the MH-139 Grey Wolf helicopter, cutting its projected fleet from 80 to 42 aircraft and reducing the number of bases that will host the new chopper.

For now, that means some units will continue to operate the aging UN-1N Huey, some of which have been flying since the Vietnam War.

The Air Force’s original plan was to procure 84 helicopters to provide security and transport across sprawling ICBM fields, senior leader and executive airlift in the National Capital Region, and aircrew survival training.

That plan was later trimmed to 80 aircraft, and the service’s 2025 budget documents now show a cut all the way down to 36. However, an Air Force spokeswoman told Air & Space Forces Magazine that the program of record would actually be 42 helicopters since six test aircraft were already delivered.

To accomplish such a reduction, the Air Force has decided to only field the MH-139 at its three ICBM bases:

F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo.

Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont.

Minot Air Force Base, N.D.

All three bases will still get their originally planned 11 helicopters, added the spokeswoman. Malmstrom just recently received its first MH-139, welcoming the Grey Wolf on March 9. It is slated to receive its full complement by the summer of 2025.

In addition, the MH-139 schoolhouse will still be at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., which is slated to get its first chopper this month.

Previously planned locations Joint Base Andrews, Md.; Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash.; and Yokota Air Base, Japan, will all not receive any MH-139s now. The Air Force had already announced Andrews as the fourth location to get the Grey Wolf, with a projected fleet size of 25.

The cuts to the program came “due to fiscal pressures and considering remaining service life of the UH-1N Huey,” the spokeswoman said.

However, budget documents note that the UH-1N Huey helicopters “have significant capability gaps in the areas of speed, range, endurance, payload capacity, and aircraft self-protection.”

The MH-139, a joint venture with Boeing and Leonardo, is a militarized version of the AW139 helicopter that is capable of flying faster, higher, farther, and with more weight than the UH-1N. The program has had hiccups, though—issues with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification caused the Air Force to delay its fiscal 2021 purchase of eight helicopters and skip its 2022 buys completely. Even after it gained FAA certification, the Pentagon’s Office of the Director of Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E) warned in its annual report that the Grey Wolf might fall shore of “operational effectiveness requirements.” The report noted concerns about with the automatic flight control system, sensor display, intercom system, cabin layout, and “restrictions on takeoffs in crosswinds or near obstacles.”

A MH-139A Grey Wolf sits at Duke Field, Florida after landing from a test flight on Feb. 22, 2024. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Breanna Christopher Volkmar

The 2023 edition of the report similarly warned that the program “faces several ongoing risks to … meeting operational effectiveness, suitability, and survivability requirements.” While some progress has been made, the report authors noted that the MH-139 still requires some FAA certifications to start initial operational testing, which are not projected to be approved until the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024.

On top of that, the Air Force wants to add an additional radio to the aircraft, “but problems with internal communications persist,” the report stated. The service also is adding an environmental conditioning system, but that system’s effects on the helicopter’s power and weight requirements is not fully known.

Despite all this, the Air Force wants to keep production high now and cut the program on the back end—the service is maintaining its request for eight helicopters in fiscal 2025, then dropping to two each for the next four years to fill out the fleet. In its 2024 budget request, USAF projected a high buy of 15 helicopters in 2026, with smaller declines after that.

Air Force officials have noted that their procurement and research and development budgets took hits in the 2025 request due to spending caps set under the Fiscal Responsibility Act and the need to maintain operations and personnel accounts. The service is also curtailing its planned F-15EX and T-7 programs of record, though by far smaller amounts, and trimming its near-term procurement of F-35s.

The MH-139, however, is taking the biggest cut. In terms of procurement, the move reduces the program’s estimated budget from $2.55 billion to $1.42 billion. It does, however, raise the unit cost per helicopter from $34.47 million to $39.37 million. That rise of 14.2 percent puts the program very close to a Nunn-McCurdy breach—the law requires Congress be notified of any program that has its unit cost rise 15 percent above current estimates.

Moving Cargo in a Hurry? These Air Force EAGLE Teams Make it Happen

March 15, 2024 | By David Roza

Loading cargo onto an aircraft sounds simple, but it’s not.

Whether it’s a tank or a pallet of rations, each piece of cargo has to be measured, weighed, and placed in a certain order aboard the aircraft to avoid overloading any specific location or throwing off the aircraft’s center of balance. Vehicles have to be checked for loose parts and fuel leaks to keep the crew safe, and some kinds of munitions cannot be stored next to each other. Certain chemicals, batteries, and other hazardous materials have to be properly documented and double-checked for diplomatic clearance before flying to countries that limit what military aircraft can bring in.

If anything falls through the gaps, it could delay a vital airlift mission for hours or days.

Keeping track of all those factors and the paperwork involved takes training and experience, which are sometimes in short supply when the Air Force works with joint partners who may not be as well-versed in the nuance of heavy airlift. That’s why in 2019, the Air Force stood up EAGLE (Expeditionary Air Ground Liaison Element) Teams, small units of Airmen who work with sister services ahead of time, so that when the jets arrive, the cargo is ready to move.

“I’ve seen aircraft have to sit for 24 hours because the cargo they were supposed to take is not ready, it’s not prepped,” Col. Jason Herring, commander of the 621st Contingency Response Wing that oversees the EAGLE teams, told Air & Space Forces Magazine. “That’s the goal with the EAGLE teams—to make sure there are no delays in the mobility system.”

air force eagle team — A 621st Mobility Support Operations Squadron expeditionary air/ground liaison element (EAGLE) team member awaits instruction during Exercise SWAMP AVENGER at North Field, South Carolina, May 24, 2023. **U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Scott Warner**

There are eight EAGLE Teams, each consisting of three Airmen, all at the Journeyman skill level (a.k.a. ‘5 level’) and above: a career enlisted aviator (typically a boom operator, loadmaster, or flight engineer) and two aerial port members. All teams are assigned to the 621st Mobility Support Operations Squadron (MSOS) at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., where some stand alert in case a crisis emerges, while others visit partner forces across the country to train them in the art of preparing cargo.

“If you see delays in the system, that causes a ripple effect, especially when you’re trying to be that tip of the spear and deliver combat power as quickly as you can,” Herring said. “When there’s a high priority for our nation’s defense, and we have to get something out the door, that’s where the EAGLE team comes in extremely handy.”

In a military with constant turnover, the Air Force has to keep coaching Airmen and other service members through the cargo inspection and loading process, especially since many partner units do it just once a year or two on a deployment. The EAGLE concept grew out of the decades-old Air Mobility Command Affiliation Program, where Airmen taught load planning to joint partners. But cargo preparation failures and loading delays kept happening, so in 2019, AMC restructured the program.

“The EAGLE—a globally deployable team able to train, advise, accompany, and assist (when approved) airlift users on all readiness activities required prior to joint inspection—was born out of that restructuring,” said Lt. Col. Eric Wietlisbach, commander of the 621st MSOS.

Some EAGLE team members still teach classes to partners, sometimes in the weeks prior to a large exercise or operation. But they play a key role in “major muscle movements” Herring said, such as when the U.S. supplied aid to Israel in the weeks following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks and during the large-scale Mobility Guardian 23 exercise held across the Pacific last summer.

A U.S. Air Force Airman from the 621st Mobility Support Operations Squadron – EAGLES guides a U.S. Marine Corps joint light tactical vehicle into a C-17A Globemaster III from Travis AFB on Marine Corps Air Station, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, July 10, 2023. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Madeline Baisey

“It was phenomenal to see them in action,” the colonel said about seeing EAGLE Airmen help move Marine JLTVs and other cargo onto a C-17 in Hawaii during Mobility Guardian.

“They were right there with the aircrew, and it gave the crew the sense of ‘oh I’m not just out here on my own uploading,’” said Herring. “When they saw Air Force members coming on board and saying ‘hey here’s the load plan, we’ve already looked at all of this, we’ve already gone through it with our partner, everything’s good to go,’ and then helping that air crew get the cargo loaded … it brought a greater sense of confidence.”

EAGLE teams often work closely with Air Mobility Liaison Officers: aircrew members who embed with other services to oversee the setup and management of airdrops and airfields and coordinate with incoming aircraft. The AMLOs take a broader strategic view of airlift operations, while the EAGLE teams focus on the tactical side by making sure cargo is ready to go as soon as the aircraft is, Herring explained.

But the current force of just eight EAGLE Teams may not be enough to meet the demand if an all-out conflict ever starts in Europe or the Pacific. There is a discussion at Air Mobility Command to possibly expand the teams and create new ones in the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, Herring said.

“We’re a high-demand, low density-force,” Herring said about his wing.

The EAGLE teams and the larger 621st Contingency Response Wing form one part of the Global Air Mobility Support System: the network of Airmen who run airfields and move cargo for transport, refueling, and aeromedical evacuation operations down range. As the Air Force prepares to operate on remote islands in the Pacific, AMC boss Gen. Mike Minihan wants GAMSS Airmen to be more like special operations forces, meaning they can operate more independently and closer to the front lines than usual.

At the 621st CRW, that means revamping equipment so that Airmen can operate at night with night vision goggles, connect to air operations centers in a contested environment, and survive and operate with partners in the field, Herring said.

“What Gen. Minihan’s charged us with is creating these smaller teams that can operate directly with partners to be able to really maximize the usage of those forces,” he explained. “That’s not just a mindset shift … but also getting the idea that you may need to operate from that forward node and preparing ourselves to be ready to do that alongside our partners.”

France Tapped as New Air Force Commander in Middle East

March 14, 2024 | By Chris Gordon

Maj. Gen. Derek C. France has been nominated to become the top U.S. Air Force commander in the Middle East, the Pentagon announced on March 14. If confirmed, he will have to deal with continued unrest in the region that has resulted in multiple rounds of USAF airstrikes recently.

President Joe Biden tapped France to pin on a third star as the next boss of Air Forces Central (AFCENT) and the Combined Forces Air Component Commander (CFACC) for U.S. Central Command. The current head of AFCENT, Lt. Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich, has already been confirmed as the next director of operations on the Joint Staff (J-3) at the Pentagon, a critical role overseeing U.S. military actions worldwide.

France’s nomination was received by the Senate on March 12 and referred to the Senate Armed Services Committee for consideration.

France currently serves as the commander of the 3rd Air Force, part of U.S. Air Forces in Europe—Air Forces Africa, which leads all the wings in USAFE-AFA. Some key air force units are part of France’s current command, including the:

31st Fighter Wing at Aviano Air Base, Italy, which hosts F-16s

52nd Fighter Wing at Spangdalem Air Base, Germany, another F-16 unit

48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath, U.K, home to F-15Es and F-35s

100th Air Refueling Wing at RAF Mildenhall, U.K.

86th Airlift Wing at Ramstein Air Base, Germany

Some of those forces—F-15Es from Lakenheath and, before that, F-16s from Aviano—have been called to the Middle East in recent months as tensions flared with Iran, then Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, prompting broader upheaval.

AFCENT is currently tackling Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea region, responding to more than 150 attacks on U.S. troops supporting the campaign against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, including an attack in January that killed three Soldiers in Jordan at an outpost just across the border from Syria, and conducting humanitarian aid airdrops over Gaza.

In his current job, France has been responding to the other major international crisis: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. USAFE has bolstered its exercises and posture in defense of NATO, as its boss, Gen. James B. Hecker, has committed to enhancing readiness and being ready to deter any further Russian aggression.

“We don’t know what’s coming on the horizon, so we have to be ready for a lot of different things,” France said in 2022. “I expect our Airmen to take care of each other and take care of themselves. … Take care of your wingman, take care of yourself.”

France is a former F-22 pilot and F-15C instructor at the U.S. Air Force Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. He has nearly 3,000 flight hours in F-22s, F-15s, and F-16s, and he has experience in the Middle East, serving as the wing commander at Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates before becoming the deputy director of operations for U.S. Central Command from 2018-2020.

France became director of operations for USAFE-AFA in June 2020—when Israel was still in the U.S. European Command area of responsibility rather than part CENTCOM—before taking his current position in June 2022.

“We have a leader that not only knows how to execute the mission, but one that also knows how to take care of Airmen and their families,” now-retired Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian, then the USAFE-AFA commander, said of France when he took command of the 3rd Air Force. Harrigian added that France had “warfighting excellence and operational knowledge.”

NORAD Boss: Russian Bombers Flew Toward US, China May Follow

March 14, 2024 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

A pair of Russian strategic bombers flew near U.S. and Canadian airspace last week before turning back short of the countries’ Air Defense Identification Zone, the head of North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command revealed March 14.

Air Force Gen. Gregory M. Guillot also offered more details on his warning that Chinese warplanes could start flying near or in the U.S. ADIZ this year during an appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

NORAD regularly detects Russian aircraft operating in the ADIZ—buffer regions that extend beyond territorial boundaries, covering airspace hundreds of miles from the coastline that nations use to track approaching aircraft. However, Guillot specified that this latest incident was different in that the bombers, Tu-95 “Bears,” were approaching from the northeast and not toward Alaska, where most such incidents occur.

“We’ve had some success working with NATO and European Command on the … northeast approach,” Guillot said. “Just last week, for the first time in over two years, the Russians sent two ‘Bear’ bombers down along that avenue through what we call the ‘GIUK gap,’ Greenland, Iceland, and the United Kingdom, approaching the Canadian and the United States Air Defense Identification Zones.”

The Tu-95 is a strategic, long-range bomber capable of carrying diverse weapons payloads. In February, NORAD reported three occasions of Russian aircraft flying in the Alaskan ADIZ without detailing the aircraft types, but Russian military officials disclosed that two of the four planes in one incident were Tu-95s, according to Reuters.

NORAD occasionally scrambles fighters to intercept those aircraft and escort them out of the ADIZ. In this latest incident, that wasn’t needed as U.S. and Canadian fighters were already in the air, Guillot said.

“We didn’t have to intercept them because we had aircraft flying to the point where we would intercept them before they crossed the identification zone, and the Russians turned around prior to reaching that zone,” Guillot said.

Guillot said NORAD kept its eyes on the bombers throughout their flight, crediting collaborative data sharing with allies via the U.S. European Command and NORTHCOM, particularly with Norway.

While the Russian bombers did not fly near Alaska this time, Guillot noted that China’s People’s Liberation Army may soon join Russia in approaching the ADIZ in that region.

“What I’ve seen is a willingness and a desire by the Chinese to act up there (the Artic),” Guillot said. “I expect to see air activity in the Alaska part of the Arctic as soon as this year, potentially. It’s a very big concern of mine.”

Guillot previously told the House Armed Services Committee that he was anticipating Chinese airplanes operating near the U.S. ADIZ sometime this year, but he did not specify what region.

Both Russia and China continue to present major threats to the U.S. homeland, Guillot said.

Russia has made substantial investments in advanced guided-missile submarines, hypersonic glide vehicles, ICBMs, and developmental systems like nuclear torpedoes and nuclear-powered cruise missiles, despite heavy losses of its ground forces in Ukraine.

“Russia retains the world’s largest stockpile of strategic and non-strategic nuclear weapons, along with significant capacity to strike inside North America with air and sea launch precision conventional weapons,” Guillot said.

According to the National Air and Space Intelligence Center’s senior analyst, China possesses the world’s leading hypersonic arsenal, which Guillot repeatedly described as “the most destabilizing weapon.”

Given the threat, Guillot emphasized the need for NORAD and NORTHCOM to have over-the-horizon radar and tracking systems to bridge awareness gaps.

“There are some gaps that will be manifesting in the near future,” Guillot said. “Those are currently scheduled to be addressed by the over-the-horizon radar and by the HBTSS, which is the hypersonic and ballistic tracking space system.”

Another area of concern Guillot highlighted was the need to train and equip backup forces to handle the Arctic’s extreme weather.

“The backfill forces are probably very well trained, but they’re not equipped and they haven’t trained in that environment,” Guillot said. “So, anything that we could do for the supplementing forces or the backfill forces that would go into the Arctic, training them in either in the Arctic environment or in something that would replicate that will be very important. Not only to give them those skills, but to identify what are the pieces of kit and equipment that we need to develop and issue, so they could seamlessly operate in that strategic environment.”