48th FW executes readiness exercise

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Eric Burks
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
RAF LAKENHEATH, England --  The 48th Fighter Wing held a “Phase II” readiness exercise June 4-5, 2018, at RAF Lakenheath.

Conducting 24-hour operations for two days, wing Airmen tested their Ability to Survive and Operate during wartime conditions. The training was designed to emphasize the importance of combat skills effectiveness training and ensure wing Airmen are prepared for potential contingencies.

Wing Inspection Team members worked together before and during the exercise to create effective training scenarios.

“The Liberty Wing was afforded this opportunity to exercise our capabilities and identify areas for improvement,” said a WIT member from the 48th Medical Group. “As a team, we did that successfully and aim to capitalize on it for the future.”

During a “Phase I” exercise, the focus is primarily on deploying unit personnel and hardware downrange, while the “Phase II” focus is on the fight that happens once those assets are deployed, said the 48th Fighter Wing director of inspections.

“We're just doing that second portion here at home,” he said. “To best simulate this, the IG team and WIT members challenged Airmen during a robust schedule of over 800 individual ATSO events.”

Training emphasized a broad spectrum of elements from pre-attack preparedness, command and control, and protection of assets and personnel, to post-attack reconnaissance and self-aid buddy care for wounded wingmen, the director said.

“All these events were injected while the wing continued to launch jets,” he said. “The valuable lessons learned from this event will be captured and carried forward to future ATSO events and the proficiency of the wing will only improve from here.”

While it was the first “Phase II” exercise here for many Airmen, many brought with them experience and expertise from similar exercises at previous bases.

“The Liberty Wing is at the tip of the spear supporting operations for U.S. European, African and Central Commands,” said Col Evan Pettus, 48th Fighter Wing commander. “Exercises like this train our Airmen to generate combat airpower in a wide range of challenging and adverse environments, enabling us to deliver decisive air capabilities whenever and where ever called upon.”