Experts converged at the Air Force Wargaming Institute at Maxwell Air Force Base, Jan. 14-17, to solidify planning elements critical for a series of successful Pacific theater exercises scheduled for the 2025 summer.
The Department Level Exercise series, part of the Department of the Air Force's Reoptimization for Great Power Competition, is the integration of several disparate major command exercises, intended to synchronize and evolve operations to deter competitor aggression where able, and to defeat threats to national security when necessary. The combined activity is expected to be one of the largest U.S. Air Force exercises in recent history, requiring significant planning before maneuvering significant resources, both manpower and aircraft, into the Pacific theater.
"It was requested that we help ready leadership and work through the decisions they will encounter during the exercise series this summer," said Ronald Betts, one of Air Force Wargaming Institute's wargaming specialists. "Over 60 participants from around the Air Force came and participated in the tabletop exercise."
The institute assisted exercise planners with process refinement and helped examine the roles and relationships of different commands scheduled to participate in the exercise series.
Because the United States must be prepared to defend against a pacing challenge in the Pacific theater, it is a necessary and critical location for the U.S. Air Force to conduct readiness exercises and continue to build its relationships and interoperability with the joint force and regional allies and partners.
"We conducted a risk analysis for the leadership to help show them where some of the blind spots may be, and also worked through some possible risk mitigation," Betts said. "It was more of a discussion of 'If this occurs, what do we do next, and who has the authorities.'"
The tabletop exercise broadly consisted of command and control, operations, movement, maneuver, and sustainment vignettes. It also provided the planners and leadership opportunities to further explore and analyze their plans of action surrounding various topics, including their expectations and desired outcomes. They also conducted additional risk analysis and established mitigations to identified risks.
"All 60 participants were extremely happy with the outcome and have asked for us to host additional tabletop exercises later on this spring," Betts said. "Not only can I say the Wargaming Institute did a great job, but all of the participants are saying that as well. Everyone was extremely happy with what had occurred, and with identifying what they need to work on to make the DLE series a success this summer."
Throughout the tabletop event, the planners and leadership worked alongside the Air Force Wargaming Institute to create a clear image of how the DLE series will be executed. This helped ensure it will be a safe and successful exercise, while providing a unique opportunity for the DAF to integrate various forces into joint, coalition, and multilateral training.
