Hurlburt Airmen bring space power to Joint Red Flag

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Allen Puckett
  • Joint Red Flag Joint Information Bureau
NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. (AFPN) --  U.S. space forces are using their knowledge of joint and interagency operations to adapt to an ever-changing battlefield during Joint Red Flag 2005, an exercise aimed at improving joint training and experimentation capabilities among U.S. and coalition forces.

Air Force space capabilities have long supported all air, land and sea warfighters, said Maj. Robin Daugherty the liaison officer for Air Force Special Operations Command headquarters at Hurlburt Field, Fla. Their responsibilities are distributed among many agencies and services and are dependent upon joint service, interagency cooperation, coordination, command and control, making the exercise a great training tool.

“The role of space is crucial in the warfighting effort,” he said. “During combat situations, there are various agencies that require information from us to complete their mission. This exercise gives us an opportunity to iron out some of the wrinkles in our processes and procedures so that we can better accomplish cross-component coordination. Basically, it gives us a more sophisticated way to train like we fight.”

Space operations are also critical because of the wealth of information that has to be processed during any operation, Major Daugherty said. For example, space weather can affect radio and satellite communications, as well as the accuracy of Global Positioning System equipment.

One aspect of the exercise focuses on the timeliness with which Airmen use the information gathered to make decisions and execute them.

“When you have a time-sensitive target, several steps have to be accomplished before that target can be reached,” said Capt. Kirk Riggs, 16th Special Operations Wing special operations liaison at Hurlburt. “When you complete those steps, the information gathered has to be coordinated through all of the different services, each component liaison and several different cells throughout the Combined Air and Space Operations Center.”

When dealing with a multitude of information for tactical-level space planning supporting things like theater missile defense, counterspace and combat search and rescue, there are many chances for space operations to miss certain steps because of a lack of communication, Captain Riggs said.

“That’s the great thing about this exercise,” he said. “After every mission, we have a thorough debriefing where we see each step of our procedures and where we can improve.”

Along with the debriefings, other benefits are gained from face-to-face interaction between both joint and coalition forces, Captain Riggs said.

“We’re making progress in leaps and bounds,” he said. “Each branch of service speaks an entirely different language and looks at tactical problems differently. It’s a great experience to attack the same problem from several different angles because it helps us all learn to speak a joint language.”

Major Daugherty said he believes the exercise is a training tool that will help better prepare troops for future conflicts and day-to-day operations.

“In this day in age, you can’t win a war without space,” he said. “Technology is continually evolving, and we have to make sure we evolve with it. “(The exercise) gives us a platform to evaluate new space capabilities and create unique ways to support our units by working together.”