The Department-Level Exercise series, a massive wargame held across the Pacific this summer, taught Air Force leaders they need to pre-position supplies and delegate decisions to be effective in an Indo-Pacific fight.
department level exercise
A massive wargame this summer saw Air Force C-130 crews push their limits to haul everything from potatoes to firetrucks between small islands across the Pacific.
The Air Force and Space Force just wrapped up an ambitious hemisphere-spanning exercise, the likes of which have not been seen in a generation.
Moving 10 tankers to refuel six C-17s en route to a paratrooper drop in Australia took nearly 24 hours of work by a team of planners at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.
The movement of thousands of troops and hundreds of aircraft at the massive Department-Level Exercise series this summer hinged on the smallest details, such as whether the gas purchase card works or how often the airfield bus runs.
Aeromedical evacuation Airmen are preparing for future conflicts in which scores more wounded troops may be forced to grow sicker as they wait for help to arrive across thousands of miles of ocean protected by advanced air defenses.
C-130 Hercules maintainers worked through tropical heat on Guam to keep the transport planes running troops and equipment across the Department-Level Exercise series.
A massive U.S. military exercise in the Pacific is exploring how adding new communications equipment to cargo and refueling aircraft can help coordinate large troop movements across thousands of miles of open ocean.