An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

MAF WEPTAC 2020: Annual conference accelerates change across MAF

  • Published
  • Air Mobility Command Public Affairs

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. – The 2020 Mobility Air Forces Weapons and Tactics Conference took place Sept. 14-25 at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.

Tacticians and other subject matter experts from across the U.S. Air Force gathered in-person and virtually to develop potential solutions to key tactical issues facing the air mobility enterprise. Also discussed were Air Mobility Command’s staffing effort priorities via the MAF Tactics Review Board.

“MAF WEPTAC directly aligns with the CSAF’s strategic approach and the AMC commander’s vision to ‘accelerate change’ across our Mobility Air Forces through the innovative solutions of our wing-level tacticians,” said Maj. Alexander Durstein, AMC chief of tanker tactics, policies and procedures, and this year’s MAF WEPTAC lead. “Our focus on improving efficiencies in tactical integration and decentralizing command and control within contested environments will have significant near-future impacts to how the MAF executes operations.”

MAF WEPTAC is divided among three phases. During the first phase, Mission Area Working Groups tackled complex problem sets based on real world threat environments. During the second phase, recommended solutions and tactic improvement proposals were adjudicated and prioritized by the TRB for all major weapons systems. Sidebar discussions were also held during this phase to resolve specific tactical deficiencies. The conference culminated with a discussion where various working group chairs explained the recommended solutions and sought senior leader concurrence on AMC Staff’s tactical focus for the next year.

“The outputs from the various working groups and sidebars require a significant level of collaboration, said Durstein. “Ensuring all the right personnel are involved is paramount to our success and to reach actionable solutions.”

This year’s theme was “Mission effectiveness through mutual support,” and saw over 370 participants, including total force weapons officers and tacticians from each mission design series.

“We chose ‘Mission effectiveness through mutual support’ to highlight the importance of air mobility’s piece in integrated joint air operations,” said Durstein. “Our ability to provide logistics and air refueling in a high-end fight is dependent on effective integration amongst ourselves and the joint force.”

The year’s conference provided a successful opportunity for MAF Airmen to accelerate change increasing air mobility capabilities across the globe.