NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- Over 500 planners from the Department of the Air Force and the Joint force converged on the U.S. Air Force’s Warfare Center at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, March 31 – April 4, to finalize critical elements of the Department-Level Exercise (DLE) series scheduled throughout the Indo-Pacific theater during the Summer of 2025.
The DLE series will demonstrate the DAF’s ability to generate combat readiness while collaborating with supported combatant commands, sister services, allies, and international partners to strengthen multilateral cooperation, rapid deployment of forces, and sustained logistics.
The primary planning efforts were focused on Air Mobility Command’s Mobility Guardian 2025, the follow-on iteration to their Mobility Guardian 2023, and Resolute Force Pacific, Pacific Air Forces’ largest Air Force contingency exercise ever. Additionally, planners worked to integrate elements of Resolute Space, Emerald Warrior, and Bamboo Eagle exercises into the DLE series. These individual exercise planning efforts are led by Space Training and Readiness Command, Air Force Special Operations Command, and Air Combat Command, respectively.
“The scope of these combined exercises is beyond anything I’ve seen in my career,” said Lt. Col. Daniel Weems, USAFWC/A3O. “The concept of executing exercises at this scale, simultaneously, is a massive undertaking and you can sense the energy and excitement of the teams building through the challenges of this requirement.”
The warfare center facilitated the conversations, partnerships, and spaces needed to ensure that allies and partners from the Indo-Pacific theater were integrated at all levels of planning ahead of the exercise series. The U.S. is dedicated to meeting our security commitments to our allies and partner nations across all domains. The Department of Defense routinely operates multilaterally worldwide and in space, maintaining the agility to respond to any challenges in these operational environments.
“Allies and partners are invaluable and their integration into our planning for this exercise series is integral for collective defense,” Weems said. “This conference provided critical touch points to get after exactly that – our enduring relationships and synchronized planning efforts.”
Planners at the conference flushed out concepts related to rapid global mobility, sustained logistics, Agile Combat Employment, command and control, and air power projection, among others. Planners also focused on clarifying desired learning objectives and strengthening the planning infrastructure needed to ensure that the United States and its allies and partners can demonstrate its ability to project air and space power anywhere, at any time.
Throughout the conference, planners worked with the USAFWC to align all stakeholders around common goals and provided a clear understanding of the different elements of the DLE series. The continued cooperation, collaboration, and interoperability efforts by all the exercise players are intended to promote peace and security through the display of solidarity and transparency. The exercise series reflects shared values and ironclad commitment to global security and stability, striving through planning and coordination to execute a successful, safe and a clear representation of the United States’ commitment to allies and partners.