DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- The 436th and 512th Airlift Wings tested their ability to generate, employ and sustain airpower across the world in a contested and degraded operational environment during Liberty Eagle Readiness Exercise 2022 at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, July 11-15, 2022.
LERE is Dover's way of preparing and transitioning to the Air Force Force Generation model as well as Air Mobility Command’s Mobility Air Force Force Generation model.
“Our nation’s next fight will have a warfighting environment that is more demanding, challenging, and volatile than ever before,” said Gen. Mike Minihan, commander of AMC. “The Mobility AFFORGEN model will help us better integrate and present forces faster and smarter, while preserving readiness and increasing deployment cycle predictability for our Airmen and their families.”
Team Dover began planning the exercise in March 2021, incorporating various base scenarios such as aircraft mishaps and active shooter situations, while also integrating multi-capable Airmen and Agile Combat Employment Air Force training initiatives.
“LERE helps Airmen prepare for threats from strategic competitors by being pushed to do something a little different than they're used to,” said Maj. Christian Litscher, 436th Airlift Wing Inspector General chief of wing exercises. “So, as we go through different scenarios, it's not like we've operated in the past. The inspector general teams have studied and crafted a scenario with experts from around the wing to really build that movie picture, if you will.”
Scenarios played out both day and night during the five-day event, requiring participants to respond to various force protection levels, mission oriented protective postures, emergency notifications and attack warning signals at simulated deployment locations on the base.
“It has been over a decade since both wings have come together to exercise,” said Master Sgt. Erin Esquer, 512th Airlift Wing exercise planner for IG Inspection division. “And currently where we are in the state of readiness, exercising is a skill that's kind of atrophied over the years based on our missions of going to one theater. Now that we have different types of threats, we have to get ourselves prepared for a different type of war and a different type of fight.”
LERE required the 436th and 512th Airlift Wings to prepare, conduct and evaluate their lethality and readiness capabilities. Although in a simulated training environment, these capabilities demonstrated Team Dover’s ability to employ multi-capable total force Airmen in an ACE strategy.
“We want to always ensure that we're getting better,” said Litscher. “Continuing to improve the unit is a big thing that the inspector general focuses on. We want to make sure that we strengthen and improve as team Dover gets into a battle rhythm for readiness.”