DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- The 7th Bomb Wing leadership teams across Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, were taught their first Lead Wing Command and Control Course by the 705th Training Squadron from Sept. 19-22, 2023.
The course is designed to prepare individuals qualified to become A-staff for operations in support of an Air Component Commander’s mission within any theater while conducting Agile Combat Employment operations within denied or contested environments.
Throughout the course, the students were assigned to a table-top exercise, coined Operation Kingfish ACE, to demonstrate the LWC2C’s teachings of command and control. After the first day of learning a variety of topics to include command relationships and the joint force, the students were broken into four separate main operating bases to learn how to ensure continued readiness as a whole rather than by separate mission sets.
“If you think of it like a big puzzle, we're teaching them where that puzzle piece fits and how to operate as an organization, not those individual functions,” said Maj. Ally Easterly, 705th TRS advanced academic instructor. “We teach them how they work together, how they fit into that big picture and how they're going to work with all of the other players within that joint force.”
The LWC2C will prepare leadership teams to consider many different factors when deploying into joint force operations in the future, emphasizing their ACE capabilities as they utilize the Air Force Force Generation cycle.
“This course provided us with an eagle eye view over the change of how they handle deployments and how we're executing missions,” said Chief Master Sgt. Felisha Luben, 7th Force Support Squadron senior enlisted leader. “You hear a lot about ACE, but now seeing it at the technical level I find the class to be beneficial because it gave us a more detailed view of what it means and then how you can apply these aspects to your part of the mission.”
With the AFFORGEN deployment cycles starting, LWC2C aims to break down the key communication components needed in the deployed joint environment.
“I think this really helps provide me the information needed to explain to my Airmen that times are changing,” said 2nd Lt. Andrew Empeno, 7th Communications Squadron officer in charge of plans and programs. “This is what's expected from headquarters. The change might not be pleasant at first, but you will have to put faith in us to help lead you and succeed for this mission.”