Moody Air Force Base entered exercise Mosaic Tiger 24 -1 from Nov. 13-17. The exercise took place across various locations including Moody AFB; Grand Bay Bombing and Gunnery Range; MacDill AFB, Florida; and Avon Park Air Force Range, Florida.
The exercise aims to test the continued concept of command and control and the 23rd Wing's ability to generate airpower in less-than-ideal conditions as an Expeditionary Air Base.
The week-long exercise, similar to previous iterations, provides an opportunity to test many capabilities, including multi-capable Airmen, agile combat employment, base defense, overcoming degraded communications and executing contingency location operations.
While the exercise tests multiple concepts, Mosaic Tiger 24-1 emphasizes mission command and its core fundamentals-centralized command, distributed control and decentralized execution.
"As we execute this exercise, we want to build confidence in accepting increased levels of risk in the distribution of control and execution of missions," said Lt. Col. Matthew Shelly, 23rd Wing chief of A-Staff. "By entrusting our intelligence, communications and operations communities, the goal is to successfully use command and control in austere and dispersed locations while combatting degraded communications, all while trusting our Airmen in various positions and locations to make command and execution decisions at lower, appropriate levels."
Although Mosaic Tiger is a wing-level exercise, the 23rd Wing aims to continue directly validating Air Combat Command's power projection through contested environments by way of decentralized command.
"Mosaic Tiger remains as significant to Air Combat Command as it has for past iterations-the use of decentralized command for this exercise speaks directly to the idea that in certain environments, the risk of inaction can be a bigger risk than action at lower levels," said Col. Paul Sheets, 23rd Wing commander. "This exercise continues to test the exact concepts needed to win the next war."
With the 23rd Wing having embraced the Lead Wing concept for a few years now, the "Flying Tigers" are no strangers to the importance of MCA and the concepts needed for the success of future crisis or conflict.
"Moody has been practicing MCA concepts for a little while now," Sheets said. "This iteration of Mosaic Tiger gives us the opportunity to further refine those crucial skills and really focus on the fundamentals of what it means to be a multi-capable Airman at every level. Whether they're here at the main operating base, supporting rotational operations at a forward operating site, or part of a multi-disciplinary team at a contingency location, every Airman plays a part in winning the fight of tomorrow."
Mosaic Tiger 24-1 will also serve as an opportunity for observation and evaluation for ACC, giving the 23rd Wing a chance to demonstrate firsthand how the wing is leading the way while striving still to become as efficient as possible in Air Force Force Generation deployment model concepts.
"This Wing has done great work since 2021 and I hope to continue to validate our capabilities as a future Expeditionary Air Base that's confident and qualified in all aspects of AFFORGEN," Sheets said. "I want every 'Flying Tiger' to feel entrusted and empowered to make the calls needed ... I want the wing as a whole to be assured in our readiness and commitment to answer the call at a moment's notice."
