A C-5M Super Galaxy aircraft stationed out of Dover Air Force Base awaits deployment during Air Force’s 2025 Department-Level Exercise series at Port of Moses Lake, Washington, July 4, 2025. The DLE strengthens and demonstrates the U.S. Air Force’s ability to reach theater at speed and scale, sustain operations, and rapidly pivot to any theater of operation at a moment’s notice, while maintaining the strategic initiative. The DLE series encompasses all branches of the Department of Defense, along with Allies and partners, employing more than 400 joint and coalition aircraft and more than 12,000 personnel across more than 50 locations across 3,000 miles. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Scott Warner)

More Details

Airmen with the 521st Contingency Response Squadron unload a C-5M Super Galaxy aircraft during the Air Mobility Command's Exercise Mobility Guardian 2025 in support of the Air Force’s 2025 Department-Level Exercise series at Port of Moses Lake, Washington, July 4, 2025. The DLE strengthens and demonstrates the U.S. Air Force’s ability to reach theater at speed and scale, sustain operations, and rapidly pivot to any theater of operation at a moment’s notice, while maintaining the strategic initiative. The DLE series encompasses all branches of the Department of Defense, along with Allies and partners, employing more than 400 joint and coalition aircraft and more than 12,000 personnel across more than 50 locations across 3,000 miles. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Scott Warner)

More Details

During this large-scale exercise that included joint and multinational partners, more than 12,000 USAF and U.S. Space Force personnel and more than 350 aircraft participated with a focus on enhancing rapid global mobility capabilities.

“This series isn’t just about exercising our capability to open airbases to move cargo or refuel jets,” Col. John Foy, 621st Contingency Response Group commander said. “It’s about showcasing our unique ability to generate air power across the globe regardless of time, space or distance.”

From July 4-15, at Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake, Washington, more than 100 Airmen with the 521st and 321st Contingency Response Squadron, based out of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, participated in the DLE, showing 621st CRW’s capability to form a Contingency Response Element whose main mission is to open, operate and close airbases anywhere in the world on demand.

“The U.S. Air Force has shifted its focus towards the partner integration and combat readiness exercises to sharpen its capabilities across the spectrum of conflict as we prepare to rapidly respond to any contingency or challenge worldwide,” Bill Hoeft, 621st CRW Inspector General director of inspections said.

To properly support DLE, the 621st CRW and its subordinate units trained rigorously over multiple iterations of Exercise Unified Devil, its largest internal force generation exercise in the unit’s 20-year history that culminated in a contingency response inspection by AMC’s Inspector General.

AMC’s support to the DLE is the largest and most complex global air mobility exercise to date, focused squarely on testing logistics, readiness and allied interoperability. It also incorporated space-based and space-enabled capabilities to include, but not limited to, space electromagnetic warfare, space domain awareness, orbital warfare and navigational warfare.

The exercise marks a significant evolution in the U.S. military’s approach to strategic deployment, combining airlift, aerial refueling, aeromedical evacuation and joint command-and-control operations in a contested environment. The operation is being integrated with all the exercises under the DLE umbrella to include Exercise Bamboo Eagle, bringing together combat, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance elements in an expansive, multi-domain scenario.

“Blending mobility logistics into combat and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations provide a level a realism that has not routinely been integrated in past mobility-centric exercises,” Foy said. “This allows us to incorporate the logistics required to get from home station to the fight is a vital aspect of war fighting that must be exercised, understood and tested.”

Building upon past Mobility Guardian iterations, this year’s exercise seeks to push the boundaries of operational agility under stress. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin says the goal is clear: simulate large-scale force deployment and sustainment “at speed and scale” across vast, contested terrain.

“Exercising at this speed, scale and tempo is how we prepare for the future fight,” Allvin said. “We need Airmen to move fast and think outside the box, disrupting the operational status quo. We also build trust and understanding through deliberate planning, operating and learning alongside our partners across the Pacific."

The DLE spans more than 3,000 miles across the Pacific and is the DAF’s premiere mobility exercise.

“This exercise, the first of its kind since the Cold War, marks pivotal moment for our Air Force and Space Force, bringing together Airmen and Guardians to bolster our nation’s war fighting capabilities,” Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink said. “Training like this alongside the Joint Force, our allies and partners in realistic operations environments using distributed operations is how we integrate capabilities to overcome any national security challenge.”

AMC forces are an integral part of the DLE series, that will incorporate multiple command exercises into one overall threat deterrence scenario, including Resolute Force Pacific (REFORPAC), Resolute Space, Mobility Guardian, Emerald Warrior and Bamboo Eagle 25-3. It will also integrate multiple allies and partners in specific component exercises with shared interests.

“The 621st Air Mobility Advisory Group mission is to integrate partners to shape and strengthen rapid global mobility,” Col. Angela Polsinelli, 621st AMAG commander said. “For the DLE, our air mobility operation squadrons are fully integrated to plan and execute mobility missions across the entire exercise, including REFORPAC.”

Polsinelli added that the air mobility liaison officers (AMLOs) and expeditionary air ground liaison element (EAGLE) Airmen have embedded with joint partners throughout the theater to streamline joint logistics, going so far as to parachute in with their U.S. Army counterparts. Additionally, air advisors were utilized to build ally and partner capabilities to strengthen interoperability and reinforce collective agility.