Inaugural Eagle Flag concludes

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Paul Fazzini
  • Air Mobility Command Public Affairs
NAVAL AIR ENGINEERING STATION LAKEHURST, N.J. (AFPN) --  In 10 days, Air Force expeditionary combat-support people opened and established a new air base here during the Air Force's newest flag-level exercise, Eagle Flag. The inaugural exercise ended Oct. 22.

Eagle Flag challenged airmen to open and establish a bare base for any mission or aircraft type, using the force-module concept. This exercise applied some lessons learned from operations around the world, including operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

The base is now ready to generate missions, according to Col. Robert Yates. He is the 27th Fighter Wing commander from Cannon Air Force Base, N.M., and was the air expeditionary wing commander for Eagle Flag.

"We can fly, fight and win because of the mission supporters we have here right now," he said. "I just received a tour of the entire tent city, and what we have here is a (base) that can support air operations. We wanted to fundamentally do that in Eagle Flag, and I think we demonstrated we can."

Yates said the exercise validated that mission-support assets could support air operations within a limited amount of time.

"The warfighters from Cannon and all the other bases had this place looking lethal in no time at all ... that is expeditionary capability ... and that's what (Air Force Chief of Staff) General (John P.) Jumper and Secretary (of the Air Force Dr. James G.) Roche wanted us to have. That's what we validated."

Air Mobility Warfare Center's 421st Training Squadron airmen at nearby Fort Dix said they were enthusiastic for the inaugural Eagle Flag, and since the 130-plus-person cadre spent more than six months preparing for it.

"We wanted to be able to put on an exercise that would allow our expeditionary combat-support professionals an opportunity to integrate as a team to open a base ... at an austere location. And, my expectations were far exceeded," said Col. Joan Cunningham, special assistant to the center’s commander for Eagle Flag. "The participants were able to work well together. They had a good plan going in, and they were able to show they could receive and generate mission forces by the ... deadline."

Being able to work together with unfamiliar people and having a well-established plan before going in is crucial to successful mission accomplishment, said Col. Lisa Firmin. She is the 27th Mission Support Group commander at Cannon AFB and was the deployed commander for the exercise.

"Anytime you pick up and move a base ... and establish (another) from nothing (it) is very difficult because you are bringing a lot of diverse groups together," she said. "It's a difficult task, but it's one we took on and excelled at. The fact that we pulled together and worked as a team was absolutely essential."

The role of a mission-support commander at a home base is very similar to the role at a bare base because they are both dealing with the people and the infrastructure, Firmin said.

"What is different," she said, "is coming with the new force-module concept of expeditionary combat support. That concept, to go to war and establish a base, is important and vital for the Air Force to have."

In fact, Air Force officials established 36 operational bases since Sept. 11, 2001.

As in any new operation or exercise, there is going to be a learning curve, she said.

"I think we need to fine tune our force modules and our sequencing before we get it absolutely right. General Jumper is fond of saying that he is 100-percent positive that we don't have it 100-percent right, and I think he is right. There were quite a few challenges, the same kind of challenges you'd face in any country you'd go do something like this, so that made it very realistic," Firmin said.

Now that the exercise is completed, the 421st TRS cadre will begin its next big assignment, officials said.

"Eagle Flag allowed us to exercise this concept to see how we can make tweaks and improvements in future operations ..." Cunningham said. "Now we'll put our heads together to take a look at the results. Having completed the exercise and assessed the capabilities, we now need to draw conclusions, examine lessons learned and develop a plan to improve future exercises."

About eight Eagle Flag exercises are scheduled for fiscal 2004, with the next one slated to begin in January. (Courtesy of Air Mobility Command News Service)