The Washington Air National Guard's 225th Air Defense Squadron hosted its second Joint Kill Chain Exercise for 14 U.S. Army and two 225th ADS enlisted weapons directors Sept. 24-27 at the Western Air Defense Sector on Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
The JKCE is the final event at the end of a three-week Air Defense Artillery Fire Control Officers course. The academic portion of the course was hosted by the 1-51 Air Defense Artillery Battalion on JB Lewis-McChord from Sept 9-23.
The course is designed to instill ADAFCOs with the necessary skills to integrate Army Air and Missile Defense engagement operations at the appropriate controlling authority," explained U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Jesus Arellano. "All operations are tied into the Joint Integrated Air and Missile Defense System to destroy, nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air breathing and missile threats against friendly forces, as well as to reduce the potential for fratricide."
ADAFCO course students received graduate level training in mission analysis, advanced air battle management/command and control, and joint air and missile defense operations. According to Arellano, the demanding curriculum challenges students' competencies using hands-on training, examinations, and practical exercises. Students are required to develop and present a threat-specific mission briefing to a board of cadre and inter-service personnel.
Washington Air National Guardsmen Master Sgt. Andrew Snyder and Tech. Sgt. Jordan Schaefer, weapons directors from the 225th ADS, had the unique privilege of going through the course and are now the only two U.S. Air Force enlisted certified ADAFCOs. Normally the course is reserved for U.S. Army warrant officers and company grade officers.
According to Snyder, "we train to integrate joint fires into the battlespace and air domain in large areas of operation. The course provided me with in-depth knowledge about the PATRIOT weapons system and IADS integration across the joint service, which will have a direct impact on the homeland defense mission [Operation Noble Eagle] at WADS."
WADS was chosen as the location to support the JKCE due to its robust capability to provide live, virtual and constructed simulation execution. Arellano explained that "the WADS team can connect to the Distributed Training Operations Center which enables state of the art simulation feed and hosts the PATRIOT tactical directors for a full integration of systems and operations. The WADS facility also provided a workspace and briefing areas to conduct joint planning training between the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army and we look forward to a continued effort to joint training."
