SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- Air Mobility Command brought together around 200 experts from across the U.S. military for the 2022 Mobility Air Forces Weapons and Tactics Conference July 25 through Aug. 6 at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. Their charge: analyze mobility solutions to operational problems faced by the joint force in a high-end fight in the Indo-Pacific region.
The forum-based conference allowed subject-matter experts to participate in 23 working groups, in which they tackled complex problem sets with the directive to think outside the box.
“This entire process is about being intentionally disruptive to the status quo,” said Gen. Mike Minihan, AMC commander. “We’re not going down the same rabbit holes, because they only lead to the same places.”
The groups looked at specific problem sets that have implications across the joint spectrum of operations, including:
- Expanding joint patient movement capability during aeromedical evacuation operations
- Mobility air forces rapid resupply, refuel and rebasing of combat air forces under Agile Concept Employment
- Increase combat air forces’ effectiveness with dynamic aerial refueling and risk mitigation
- Palletized munitions employment (also called Rapid Dragon)
- Maritime resupply operations to maintain persistent and enduring strategic deterrence
Participants generated actionable items and explored how to integrate improved tactics into the mobility enterprise and broader military community. From there, the conversation turned to how to make it happen, discussing requirements for resourcing.
Minihan noted the stakes to a room full of experts and planners.
“This team is the meaningful maneuver force for the joint fight – there’s just too much land and too much water for anyone else to deliver mobility at the speed and scale that we do,” he said. “You need to operationalize everything. We want to offer our adversaries more dilemmas than they can consume. There’s enormous advantage to first movers in any domain.”
The conference was one of several events AMC hosted recently, including targeted work with industry and detailed staff-to-staff discussions with other commands, all focused on extracting maximum value out of existing capabilities and exploring how the MAF can address gaps across communication, survivability and agility.
The guidance, authorities and tactics, techniques and procedures developed during the WEPTAC immediately informed the initial planning conference for Mobility Guardian 2023, which kicked off here Monday. Their goal was to begin to form the winning scheme of maneuver for the joint force in the Indo-Pacific.
“We’re intentionally and aggressively funneling every lesson learned from recent operations toward development of a plan to win, always.” Minihan said. “Mobility Guardian 23 will be where we see the fruits of this work when we demonstrate how mobility is the lynchpin to success in the Pacific.”