U.S. Air Force Special Warfare Tactical Air Control Party teams from the 93d Air Ground Operations Wing enabled critical Command and Control (C2) and sensing capabilities for exercise Bamboo Eagle 25-1 across America and islands in the Pacific Ocean, Feb. 10-14, 2025.
The employment of Integrated Sensing and Effects Teams (ISET), Lead C2 teams, Distributed C2 teams, and Mission Command provided a robust and resilient employment model playing a critical role in the exercise. TACP facilitated real-time data passage critical to feeding and closing long range kill chains achieving kinetic and non-kinetic effects, which are essential in future operations.
"TACP's C2 expertise was invaluable to the success of this exercise," said Lt. Col. Alex Rich, BE 25-1 exercise manager. "They supported mission accomplishment and provided capabilities we need in future operations."
Around 60 TACP and Special Warfare Mission Support Airmen employed diverse waveforms from numerous distributed operating locations to ensure C2 resiliency in an exercise designed to stress Airmen and their equipment in an advanced, non-permissive and modern battlefield environment. The exercise emphasized real-time planning and execution, requiring AFSPECWAR Airmen to be agile and creative in their application of target acquisition and distributed C2 capabilities.
"The character of warfare has changed requiring TACP to evolve and solve joint and coalition force problems. We are more than cleared-hot, yet our roots in that role have uniquely enabled us to operate at the tactical edge, survive, and more importantly connect the joint force to not only employ effects at the right place and time, but give our leaders decision advantage," said Lt. Col. Ralph Johnson, 19th Air Support Operations Squadron Commander. "I cannot be more proud of my team, they've committed completely to the process of getting better daily in the lead up to these exercises and it has shown."
Contingencies and adversarial capabilities provide simulated enemies a vote in combat-replicative exercises like BE 25-1 which highlights a need for C2 resilience and diverse methods for mission accomplishment. C2 employment in the Air Force's Agile Combat Employment scheme of maneuver creates unique challenges that require a flexible and adaptive force structure and Airman.
"TACP are comfortable with ambiguity and adapting to unique and complex scenarios, it's what we've been doing since our inception," Maj. Zachary Van Cleef, 19th ASOS Assistant Operations TACP Officer explained. "As top tier integrators and force multipliers, TACP will prove to be an essential asset in any future conflict."
As these complex C2 challenges continue to evolve, so do Joint Force solutions to these problems.
"Our team prepared for this exercise along with RED FLAG-Nellis for over six months," Van Cleef said. "They filled both a C2 and real-time forward edge targeting gap that proved pivotal to the success in BE 25-1. At the squadron, our team culture and commitment enable us to stay ready and yield high-level results wherever, whenever."
