SECDEF: Military Shrinking Footprint in Germany to Better Deter Russia

Oct. 20, 2020 | By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper on Oct. 20 said the Pentagon’s proposed posture shift in Europe that’s slated to pull nearly 12,000 troops out of Germany, end Spangdahlem Air Base’s fighter mission, and relocate U.S. Africa Command’s headquarters looks to more effectively deter Russia.

During an in-person appearance at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington, Esper said the more eastward the U.S. can pivot its personnel and assets, the better job it can do of safeguarding its allies and partners from the Russian threat.

“It’s common sense,” Esper said. “You don’t need to be Napoleon or MacArthur to look at the map and realize that the further east you are, the more reassurance you could provide for those allies and partners on the frontlines—whether it’s in the northeast, it’s the Baltic states, Poland, just due east of Germany, or in Bulgaria and Romania in the southeast along the Black Sea.”

According to Esper, this “strategic” force movement will also help the U.S. tackle “the time-distance challenges” in case Russian forces undertake “some type of really aggressive action.”

The shift away from Germany also will help the U.S. make good on its “five key principles” of fortifying the NATO alliance, boosting “U.S. strategic flexibility and European Command operational flexibility,” and reassuring allies, all while looking out for U.S. troops and their families, Esper said.

U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa boss Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian said in September the reposturing was still in planning stages.

The Secretary also spoke to “a real opportunity” to base at least portions of the U.S. Army’s 2nd Cavalry Regiment in Poland—a possibility he said the would-be host country wants and that the U.S. believes is logical—and the potential for stationing a forward element of the Army’s V Corps within Polish borders, as well.

“But we also need to look at the Baltics and the Black Sea region to make sure that we’re meeting those five imperatives along the …frontline trace, if you will, of where we sit vis-a-vis Russia,” he said.

Video: The Atlantic Council on YouTube

In a similar vein, Esper said the National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Program, which was created in 1993 to cultivate bonds “with former Soviet Bloc nations,” needs to prioritize “frontline and emerging partner nations to compete with China and Russia.” For this reason, he said, the department will carry out “an independent, strategic” assessment of all current partnerships to help it identify efficiencies and make the overall program more effective.

DOD is also exploring how it might be able to scale-up the State Partnership Program, he said. While the endeavor currently boasts a portfolio of 82 partnerships with four new ones pending, Esper aims to bring the grand total to 94 “by the end of 2025.” The Pentagon wants to do this by boosting funding and making it “more consistent and predictable,” but Esper said that will require Congressional help.

Ramstein Airmen, C-130Js Deploy to Poland for Training

Oct. 20, 2020 | By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

About 85 Airmen and three C-130J aircraft from the 37th Airlift Squadron at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, are training with the Polish Air Force as part of Aviation Detachment Rotation 21.1, U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa spokesperson Tech Sgt. Rachel Waller told Air Force Magazine in an Oct. 20 email.

“Aviation Detachment Rotation 21.1 is the first of four planned rotations that occur annually to support Operation Atlantic Resolve,” Waller wrote.

These rotations consist of exercises and deployments held across Europe that are engineered to boost USAF’s interoperability with partner militaries, keep joint readiness on point, and assure the nation’s allies in the region, Waller wrote. These types of training opportunities help strengthen participating militaries’ working bonds and help USAF better coordinate with its allies and partners when crisis strikes, she noted.

“U.S. aircraft and Airmen have participated in these rotations in Poland since 2012,” she wrote.

Waller declined to disclose the current rotation’s start and end dates, citing operational security concerns. However, a photo published by USAFE shows Airmen from the squadron arriving at the Polish Air Force’s 33rd Airlift Base, which USAFE said is serving as the exercise’s headquarters, on Oct. 19.

Airmen from the 52nd Operations Group’s Detachment 1—which is based out of Lask Air Base, Poland, managed and supported by Spangdahlem Air Base’s 52nd Wing, and manned by USAF units that rotate in and out of the base—are also supporting the training exercise, Waller noted.

“The detachment was established to increase cooperation between the U.S. and Polish air forces, with the aim of strengthening interoperability as NATO allies through regular combined training exercises and support of periodic rotations with U.S. military aircraft,” Waller wrote. “The detachment personnel coordinate and control rotations, organize combined training exercises, and support opportunities to strengthen interoperability between U.S. and Polish air forces.”

Aviano Airmen Deploy Throughout Southwest Asia

Oct. 20, 2020 | By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

Approximately 120 Airmen from the 31st Fighter Wing’s 606th Air Control Squadron deployed to six undisclosed locations in Southwest Asia on Oct. 12, the 31st Fighter Wing confirmed to Air Force Magazine.

During the deployment, which is slated to last about six months, these Airmen will handle “command and control, air surveillance, airspace deconfliction, and air refueling management in support of” Air Forces Central Command, wing spokesperson Maj. Sarah D. Babcock wrote in an Oct. 19 email to Air Force Magazine.

Members of the 606th Air Control Squadron board a plane for a deployment from Aviano Air Base, Italy, Oct. 10, 2020. **Photo: Senior Airman Caleb House**

In the lead up to the exercise, the squadron teamed up with on-base and Army partners to carry out “an approved in-garrison syllabus” for their mandatory, pre-deployment Fieldcraft Hostile training, which Airmen usually complete at the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., without needing to leave Italy, according to a wing release.

“While we are always in a state of readiness, we have been preparing for the past few months for this specific mission set,” said Lt. Col. Joseph Faraone, the squadron’s operations director, in the release. “Our support team and maintainers are critical to our success, and have been taking care of specific deployment requirements.”

606th Air Control Squadron Airmen listen to Squadron Commander Lt. Col. Brian Robertson as he says farewell prior to their deployment from Aviano Air Base, Italy, on Oct. 10, 2020. **Photo: Senior Airman Caleb House**

The squadron’s weapons and tactics flight also assembled an approximately month-long “AFCENT spin-up and certification plan” to refresh veteran deployers and train newbies on what life would be like once they departed Aviano, the release stated.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the team we are bringing downrange,” Squadron Operations Superintendent Senior Master Sgt. Nathaniel Kubus said in the release. “Thirty percent of the operators we are bringing with us haven’t even been home for a full year and they are heading back out to do the mission. It’s really impressive to see the team come together as one for the same goal.”

Members of the 606th Air Control Squadron depart for a deployment from Aviano Air Base, Italy on Oct. 10, 2020. **Photo: Senior Airman Caleb House**

The squadron is made up of nearly 400 Airmen from 25 different specialties. Airmen from 13 Air Force Specialty Codes are taking part in the current deployment, according to the release.

CSAF, CSO Back at Pentagon After Joint Chiefs COVID-19 Scare

Oct. 20, 2020 | By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. and Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond have both returned to work at the Pentagon following a COVID-19 scare among the Joint Chiefs of Staff, USAF spokesperson Ann M. Stefanek confirmed to Air Force Magazine on Oct. 20.

The Associated Press first reported that the Joint Chiefs received the green light to resume work in the building.

“The go-ahead to resume work from the Pentagon was given last week, in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and after members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had multiple negative tests for the virus, officials said Monday,” they wrote on Oct. 19.

Stefanek did not comment on how many times Brown and Raymond needed to test negative in order to get that OK, or indicate whether they had to meet any other medical criteria prior to receiving the all-clear.

Brown, Raymond, and other top brass self-quarantined at home after Coast Guard Vice Commandant Adm. Charles W. Ray tested positive for the new coronavirus on Oct. 5, in case they were unknowingly exposed during Pentagon meetings the week prior, Air Force Magazine previously reported.

As of the morning of Oct. 19, the Defense Department had recorded a total of 75,049 cases of the new coronavirus disease among its uniformed personnel, civilian employees, contractors, and military dependents since the pandemic began. Department of the Air Force troops—save for Air National Guard personnel—accounted for 8,057 of these cases.

USAF Scoping Out Upgrades to Counter-UAS Weapons

Oct. 19, 2020 | By Rachel S. Cohen

The Air Force is in the market for upgrades to its counter-drone technologies, according to an Oct. 16 request for information posted on a federal contracting website.

The service is in the early stages of deploying lasers, microwaves, and other weapons more advanced than a shotgun to deal with potentially threatening drones loitering around bases. In particular, the RFI is looking for ideas to fend off the smallest unmanned aerial systems like quadcopters.

“These threats may have characteristics such as small size, low radar cross-sections, low infrared or radio frequency signatures (or no RF signatures), ability to hover, and low-altitude flight capability, which may render them difficult to detect and/or defeat,” the Air Force stated. “These UAS are typically either controlled remotely from a ground control station or capable of flying pre-planned routes.”

Cheap aircraft can be turned into battlefield weapons when modified to drop hand grenades, and they can spy on military installations or heavily damage jets if sucked into an engine. American military officials have warned for years that small drones pose a pervasive threat to troops in the Middle East.

Over the next year, the Air Force wants to pursue updates to counter-drone command-and-control, radar, and electronic warfare systems related to directed-energy weapons. It’s soliciting concepts in 12 areas from lethality to crunching weather data. Responses are due Nov. 17.

For instance, the service suggests automating the process of targeting, tracking, and shooting at an incoming drone instead of relying as heavily on a human operator.

“At a minimum, the ideal configuration is for [a high-energy laser] system to have its beam director/optics automate all steps between acquisition, tracking, aimpoint selection, and only requires a human to interact with it through final approval to fire from operator/battle commander,” the RFI said.

The service also considers being able to compile and send reports with the details of drone threats and conflicts to other units, which could give the military a better understanding of an enemy in a particular area.

Pentagon researchers are looking into several different counter-UAS system designs spanning the weapons themselves to the subsystems that point and shoot them. The Air Force is currently testing high-powered lasers and microwaves overseas while it takes less-destructive approaches—like using gun-fired nets to trap quadcopters—in the continental U.S.

Barksdale B-52s Cross Ocean Twice, Participate in Elephant Walk in 2-Day Span

Oct. 19, 2020 | By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

Two B-52H Stratofortresses from the 96th Bomb Squadron at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., left the installation on the evening of Oct. 13, flew nonstop to Europe to train with NATO over the North Sea, and returned the next night, 2nd Bomb Wing spokesperson Capt. Christopher Sullivan told Air Force Magazine.

The “crossover exercise” aimed to help USAF more effectively work together with its NATO partners, the 2nd Bomb Wing wrote.

The transatlantic trip was part of a larger defensive exercise slated to span two weeks, involving more than 50 multinational aircraft, and ensuring interoperability between different air forces from across the alliance, according to a U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa release.

“Bomber crews coordinated with air- and ground-based participants demonstrating allied capability to bring distributed forces together within NATO’s operational area,” the release stated, adding that the B-52s were supporting a preexisting Bomber Task Force on the continent.

B-roll from the exercise shows Airmen preparing an aircraft for the transatlantic voyage and one of the Stratofortresses taking off from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., on Oct. 13, 2020. Video: Senior Airman Bria Hughes/2nd Bomb Wing

On their way there and back, the BUFFs received fuel from USAF, as well as the Dutch, German, and Italian air forces, according to the release.

“This multilateral support to the BTF is an example of the strength gained through interoperability and partnership with NATO allies and partners,” it stated.

B-52 Elephant Walk — B-52Hs from the 2nd Bomb Wing maneuver along the runway at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., on Oct. 14, 2020. **Photo: Tech. Sgt. Daniel Martinez.**

Eight other BUFFs took part in an elephant walk on Oct. 14 back at the wing’s home base in the Bayou State, officials told Air Force Magazine.

The readiness exercise aimed to ensure the wing’s ability “to provide the nation with winning combat power,” it wrote in an Oct. 16 Facebook post.

https://www.facebook.com/TeamBarksdale/posts/3830100913690245

“Our job is to provide winning combat power to the nation through conventional and nuclear global strike,” Sullivan said in a statement to Air Force Magazine. “These readiness exercises allow us to practice that capability in a realistic way that makes sense. No matter where or when, our bombers can get there quickly and in force.”

USAF, Army Move Forward Under New Command and Control Agreement

Oct. 19, 2020 | By Rachel S. Cohen

Air Force and Army leaders recently reached an agreement to partner more closely on joint all-domain command and control over the next two years, hoping that collaboration will help achieve their combat goals faster.

Each military department has its own venture to create a battle network that connects assets like tanks and aircraft with sensors to track, target, and attack more efficiently. The Air Force runs the Advanced Battle Management System plan, the Army calls its own work “Project Convergence,” and the Navy has a parallel effort dubbed “Project Overmatch.”

“We’re trying to build the interconnected digital infrastructure needed to allow individual services to bring their own capabilities and connect to one another, much like we do in our daily lives at home with personal devices,” a Department of the Air Force spokesperson said.

The Army and Air Force have worked together on the issue over the past few years, including a series of tabletop exercises to explore multidomain operations in 2018.

In this new step, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. and Army Chief of Staff Gen. James C. McConville agreed to pursue mutual data-sharing and software interface standards through the end of September 2022. Officials are hailing the Sept. 29 pact as a pivotal move toward breaking down the institutional hurdles that keep the armed forces from working together more efficiently.

The services are still scoping out how to pursue a common data standard, which the Air Force has started requesting for its own programs, and haven’t chosen specific systems or platforms to collaborate on.

“With the data-sharing, we intend to start with sharing the most critical mission areas within each particular service as well as sharing the data engineering plans for each mission area,” the spokesperson told Air Force Magazine.

The Army will play a bigger role in the Air Force’s periodic ABMS demonstrations (known as “on-ramps”) as a result of the agreement, and likewise for Air Force participation in Project Convergence events. The Air Force did not indicate it is working on a similar agreement with the Navy and Marine Corps.

“Collaboration will primarily include the development of concepts of operations and joint participation in demonstrations, war games, and on-ramps,” the spokesperson said. “We’re also looking at coordinating on identifying and developing the data architecture necessary to enable machine learning and [artificial intelligence] processes.”

Adding “C” for “combined” to the JADC2 acronym indicates the military is starting to think more seriously about bringing foreign partners into the network as well, on top of connecting the U.S. armed forces.

The Air Force has hosted three ABMS on-ramps so far, and is planning another exercise in Europe next spring. The Army is planning Project Convergence events for the next few years with greater participation across the Joint Force, and expects the United Kingdom and perhaps Australia to join in 2022.

“We were able to take the sensor-to-shooter timeline from tens of minutes to tens of seconds. … We’re able to demonstrate joint compatibility with F-35s, Osprey[s], as well as [Joint Special Operations Command] operatives.” Army Brig. Gen. Ross Coffman, director of the next-generation combat vehicle cross-functional team at Army Futures Command, said of Project Convergence during an Oct. 14 panel hosted by the Association of the United States Army.

The five-week Project Convergence event that ended Sept. 18 used AI-driven robotic sensing to recognize targets, identify vehicles by type, and show soldiers where to fire.

The pact hasn’t yet launched any new development projects, the Air Force spokesperson said, though they are looking into combined “JADC2 capabilities, data system and automation development, and intelligence collection and technology protection.”

By the time the agreement ends, the services hope to have significantly improved the command-and-control doctrine, organization, concepts, and technologies needed to make combat decisions faster than other advanced militaries like Russia and China.

“If we’re at the end of 2022 and we can witness the Army and Air Force’s JADC2 capabilities integrated, and experimenting, and testing globally integrated operations, we would consider that a success,” the spokesperson said. “The CJADC2 partnership agreement is meant to solidify our commitment to connecting the Joint Force and build [the Internet of Military Things].”

Space Force Gets Ready to Train First Enlisted Recruits

Oct. 19, 2020 | By Rachel S. Cohen

Seven Space Force hopefuls will ship out this week to the service’s inaugural boot camp at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas. The Space Force is piggybacking on the Air Force’s long-standing Basic Military Training process while it grows its own.

Those who graduate from the approximately eight-week program will become the first enlisted members the Space Force has trained itself, rather than importing personnel from the other services.

The pipeline starts with recruitment. The Space Force aims to bring in 312 enlisted recruits in 2021, and 300 to 500 a year after that as the service looks to maintain or grow its size. Those numbers are a fraction of the tens of thousands of new Airmen the Air Force brings in annually.

Chief Master Sgt. Shane Pilgrim, the Space Force’s chief of enlisted force development, said the service eventually plans to consolidate its space, intelligence, and cyber recruits into single cohorts at BMT. That would bring the average size of a Space Force basic training group to 30 or 40 instead of fewer than 10.

As they try to find the optimal class size, officials may find that smaller groups don’t bond as well as a bigger force, or that welcoming hundreds of recruits at once creates too much pressure later in the pipeline.

“Why do we have to choose? Maybe we do six at a time, and then … one time next spring, we’ll do a class of 30 and we see how that works,” Senior Enlisted Adviser Chief Master Sgt. Roger A. Towberman said. “It really is an ecosystem and everything’s connected to everything else. I can change something so that basic training works better, and it may make technical training work worse, or it may put the recruiters in a position where they’ve got to make compromises in order to meet the numbers that they need to keep us on track.”

USSF wants to reach out to communities and schools it hasn’t typically courted to find members. The Space Force wants to strengthen its ties to historically black colleges and universities so it can recruit a more diverse pool of future officers, and offer the enlisted path to people who choose not to finish school. It hopes to attract more women who are interested in science and technology fields as well.

“We are also targeting demographic areas in the country that are traditionally not fertile grounds for recruits,” Pilgrim said.

In contrast to military recruitment that heavily relies on standardized testing, the Space Force instead wants prospective members to interview with a recruiter and go through a personal assessment process. If they are chosen to join the service, the Space Force will issue them a tablet with some courseware and helpful videos about two months before they leave for BMT. Recruits will be paired with mentors who can answer any questions about joining the military.

“Because of our size and scale, we can do things on a more personal level,” Pilgrim said.

When they arrive at basic training, male recruits will join Air Force BMT groups with other men, while women will join female flights. They will regroup for space-specific training, an approach modeled by the special warfare field.

“All the [Air Force specialties] currently will do what is basically the Air Force basic training course, with some adjustments to the courseware to implement the space courses,” Pilgrim said. “We have three [training instructors] currently assigned to Lackland that are space professionals. So that’s how we’re building in these space experiences—having the flight led by a space TI, having specific courseware to space—but they are still going through Air Force BMT for all intents and purposes.”

The Air Force has gradually built more space knowledge into its education regime for all Airmen, teaching the importance of satellites and radars to the rest of the combat force. More specialized Space Force training will go even deeper.

Towberman charged a group of personnel experts to create a unique experience for recruits that focuses on teamwork, warfighter ethos, professionalism, and comprehensive fitness. The service wants its training to feel different from the other armed forces while introducing its newest members to military culture and the importance of space operations.

Recruits will face the same regimen as Airmen of lessons in personal conduct, physical fitness, and military fundamentals. On the space side, they’ll learn “law, policy, orbital mechanics, electromagnetic waves and signals, space environment, space systems, command authorities, and joint space warfighting,” according to a Space Force release.

“We looked at adding a course on our space organization, … [and] some stuff about our doctrine and our defense space strategy” to explain why the Space Force was created, Pilgrim said. The planning team wanted to create opportunities to discuss space dominance and orbital threats in an unclassified forum, and to cover the past several decades of military space history.

Recruits should likewise learn about the Space Force’s workforce, which relies more heavily on officers and civilians than the Air Force does, Pilgrim said.

“We also assessed whether some of the courses there, such as the combat arms training, were relevant in the current format to what we’re doing in our mission in the Space Force, and the expeditionary training as well, because our mission is different,” he added.

Space operations are less physical than other military specialties and require fewer deployments: “Our training should relate to what we do for our national defense mission.”

As the coronavirus pandemic has pushed education across the country online, the Space Force wants to make that shift to virtual learning a regular part of BMT.

The Space Force, the only branch of the armed forces launched in the computer age, pledges to break away from the manual processes that still dominate the military and think digital-first.

“We are going to incorporate some video-enhanced courseware, some stuff where we can actually leverage technology to bring the experience of current space professionals into BMT instead of the traditional PowerPoint,” Pilgrim said. “Either livestreaming panels or building pre-recorded videos of professionals talking about the different space competencies [are] some of the things we’re going to do.”

Pilgrim believes a tech-savvy approach can help recruits become just as prepared for their jobs as they would be with in-person instruction, in the COVID-19 era and beyond. Space Force trainees must follow the same precautions in place to prevent the virus’s spread, like face masks and physical distancing, as Airmen at basic training.

“Our tablet initiative allows us to stay connected without being physically connected as much to the recruits, prior to them coming to basic,” he said. “Once they get into that pipeline, they have established controls that are tried and true at BMT that will be implemented and will keep them safe.”

Over time, Space Force basic training could grow large enough to warrant its own squadrons and a fuller space curriculum. Everyone should have a basic understanding of space operations, whether they’re a satellite operator or an intelligence analyst, Pilgrim said.

“Gradually, we can build and morph into that. We need to run where we can and crawl where we need to,” he said. “As we get through a couple iterations of this, I think we will learn rapidly, and it’ll be a constant double loop where we go back and reassess.”

Once the space professionals—or whatever their formal name will be—graduate from BMT, they will head to one of three bases for further training in various specialties. Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., will host space operators; Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., will receive cyber specialists; and Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, will train intelligence professionals.

The service is also actively bringing in new members through Officer Training School, the initial two-month course for college graduates who join the military. Two women on Oct. 16 became the first Space Force members to come out of OTS, which is also combined with the Air Force’s process.

“I feel like a pioneer going into a new realm of the military,” Second Lt. Elizabeth Kowal said in an Oct. 16 release. “This is literally the adventure of a lifetime and I can’t wait to jump in with everything that I have.”

USAF, Family Settle Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Oct. 18, 2020 | By Amy Hudson

The widow of a contractor killed during a friendly fire training incident at the White Sands Missile Range in 2017 sued the Air Force for $24.6 million in damages. The family’s lawyer told Military.com they settled for less than that, saying only it was “enough to take care of them for the rest of their lives.”

Retired Master Sgt. Charles Holbrook, a former tactical air control party Airman, was killed on Jan. 31, 2017, when an inexperienced F-16 student pilot strafed the wrong target during a live-fire nighttime training mission. Holbrook was struck in the head with a 20mm round from the jet’s Vulcan cannon, according to court documents filed in the United States District Court of New Mexico earlier this year. A military member also was injured, according to the accident investigation board report.

Holbrook was a business development manager at Sensors Unlimited, a division of United Technologies Aerospace Division, and was on the range to demonstrate a laser imaging device to members of the Dutch Air Force who also were participating in the exercise, according to the court documents, first reported on by Task & Purpose on Oct 16. The court records claim the Air Force did not provide the proper protective gear to Holbrook before allowing him on the range. However, the AIB notes that he had brought Level 3 body armor and a Kevlar helmet with him, but “displayed a level of complacency” by not putting it on.

“The fact that the MC [mishap contractor] has personal protective equipment with him, including a level 3A helmet and level 3 body armor without plates, supports a finding that the MC was aware of the inherent dangers of CAS live-fire training … ,” the AIB report states. “Based on the evidence before the AIB, while there is a possibility, the AIB could not determine the probability of whether the MC’s injury was preventable or the severity reduced had the MC been wearing his helmet at the time of the mishap.”

The AIB board president Maj. Gen. Patrick M. Wade on Sept. 26, 2017, found pilot error to be the cause of the incident, though the instructor pilot’s failure to properly supervise the mission and vague, yet “overaggressive” directions were significant contributors.

“I find, by the preponderance of the evidence, the cause of the mishap were two pilot errors that led to the errant firing upon the ground element’s location. The MP [mission pilot] misperceived that the ground element’s location was the intended simulated SA-8 training target. Additionally, the MP misinterpreted his instruments as he failed to follow his on-board systems that were directing him to the proper target … ,” wrote Wade.

“I also find, by the preponderance of evidence, the MIP’s [mission instructor pilot] failure to provide adequate supervision and instruction significantly contributed to the mishap. The MIP failed to cross-monitor the MP’s performance prior to and during the MP’s fatal strafing attack. The MIP exhibited task misprioritization as he focused his attention on Forward Air Controller (Airborne) (FAC(A)) duties while his student, the MP, was performing his strafing attacks. The MIP displayed overconfidence, complacency, and overaggressiveness during the mishap sortie.”

The training scenario involved four F-16 fighters—two flown by instructor pilots and two by student pilots. They were tasked with taking out an enemy position with “friendlies” nearby. There were 10 people on the ground at the time, including four joint terminal attack controllers from the Idaho Air National Guard’s 124th Air Support Operations Squadron and the 7th ASOS at Fort Bliss, Texas; two Army ground control liaison officers; and three Dutch JTACs there to observe Holbrook’s laser imaging device.

“The observers and civilian, Charles Holbrook, were placed less than a half mile away from the target in an almost identical configuration as the target—a line of rental vehicles on a dirt circle with a road going north of the circle,” the suit charges. “At night, in the dark, these two targets would look the same.”

The student pilot was a first lieutenant assigned to the F-16 Formal Training Unit at Holloman, with 86 total primary flying hours and 60.9 hours in the F-16, according to the AIB. The training event was the student pilot’s first night close air support mission, first use of night vision goggles while flying, and the first time performing a nighttime high-angle strafe of unlit targets, according to the lawsuit. His instructor pilot—who was operating an F-16D configured the same as the student pilot’s aircraft—was a captain stationed at Holloman, with 887 primary flight hours, including 857 in the F-16 and 107 instructor hours, according to the AIB.

The suit said it was “unclear” whether the 10 people on the ground knew they were being used as potential “friendly targets,” and they did not participate in the pilots’ mission briefing, which outlined the training scenario. However, the AIB said Holbrook did attend a ground mission briefing conducted by the JTACs.

According to the lawsuit, the plan was for the first JTAC—a member of the Idaho ANG’s 124th ASOS—to control the first two target runs, then pass control to another Airman, who was still qualifying to be a joint terminal attack controller, but would be supervised by a JTAC instructor. They were not told the instructor pilot might take control and instruct the student pilot to fire on a target, according to court documents.

The mission pilot conducted several bombing runs with both simulated and real inert bombs, the documents claim, and practiced evasive maneuvers, while one of the JTACS set up a red strobing infrared beacon at the observation point so the pilots could locate the friendlies on the ground. The suit alleges that while the instructor pilot confirmed he saw the strobe, the student pilot did not but he was not asked to verify the target by the instructor.

On the first run, the suit alleges, the mission pilot “mistakenly moved the targeting pod sensor in his jet and was ‘tracking’ (i.e. targeting) the 10 people on the ground” when he called out “capture target.” The student pilot was not asked to describe what he was targeting, according to court documents, alleging that the instructor did not verify he was tracking the right target.

“After pointing his aircraft at the people on the ground at the OP [observation point], he squeezed the trigger to fire his 20mm cannon on the OP. No rounds were released during this mis-targeting because the MP had inadvertently left his master armament switch in simulation mode, so nothing happened, and he flew over the top of the OP,” the documents allege.

Even though the student pilot’s instruments showed he was not on the correct target, and the red warning strobe was visible instead of the instructor pilot’s laser, the suit alleges, neither the student nor the instructor “realized his mistake.”

The suit also alleges that “The MP should have checked in with his student and verified that he had identified and was firing on the correct target, and whether he could safely continue training such a complicated scenario.” Instead, the court documents say, “the MIP chewed out the MP for having his master armament switch in simulation mode and, even though [the JTAC trainee] was supposed to be tracking and giving the order to re-attack or fire, the [instructor pilot] immediately ordered the [student pilot] to re-engage [the] target.”

The student pilot switched from simulation mode to arm mode and reengaged, the documents state, but still didn’t squeeze the trigger because he wasn’t sure he had the right target.

According to the suit, when the instructor asked him why he aborted, the student pilot said, “‘The sparkle just looked different so I did not want to shoot, I wasn’t uhh, it wasn’t as circular as I thought I saw, it looked like a light maybe on top of a building, I was wrong.’”

What he described, the suit alleges, was “spot on” for the observation point, where the 10 people remained on the ground, because the real target did not have any lights. But because the exchange happened over the private radio, the suit says, the JTACS did not know why the pilot aborted. When they asked why, the instructor pilot informed them the student pilot “was going to setup for a reattack,” according to court documents.

On the third run, the student pilot’s aircraft detected the correct target, the documents allege, but the pilot maneuvered the F-16 in the opposite direction back toward the observation point, which he had mistakenly targeted twice before. The instructor pilot, the suit says, took over mission control from the JTAC on the ground and instructed the student to shoot.

“The MP squeezed the trigger while the nose of the aircraft was pointed at the OP and sent 155 rounds of Vulcan cannon ammunition toward the ground crew, blowing up a rental car and striking Chuck Holbrook in the head with a 20mm round,” according to documents.

The wrongful death suit alleges the Air Force was negligent in hiring, training, and supervising the student pilots, instructor pilots, and JTACs. Holbrook’s widow, Belen Holbrook, is seeking $24.6 million in compensation.

Holloman-based TACP’s remembered Holbrook during a 24-hour run sponsored by the TACP Association last year.

“It is important for us to recognize and reflect on his sacrifices because it happened right here in Red Rio during a training day when he was out here with us,” said Tech. Sgt. Dan Hampton, 7th ASOS flight chief, in an April 2019 Air Force release. “I think it is important that we pay our respects.”

Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 12:47 p.m. on Oct. 20, 2020, to note the mishap pilot’s and mishap instructor pilot’s total primary flight hours.