An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means youโ€™ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : Media : News : News Article View
NEWS | Sept. 8, 2020

Agile Combat Employment Ensures Free and Open Indo-Pacific

By Lt. Col. Tony Wickman Pacific Air Forces Public Affairs

JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR HICKAM, Hawaii -- Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) continues to deliver strategic predictability and operational unpredictability using Agile Combat Employment to secure a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Using mainstay bombers, tankers and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) platforms mixed with cutting edge 5th generation fighters and newer airlift and ISR assets, PACAF continues to employ forces from around the globe and those of its allies and partners to prepare for and counter rapidly growing threats in the region.

“Deploying B-1s, B-2s, and B-52s as part of our Agile Combat Employment, coupled with U.S. Strategic Command’s dynamic force employment concepts, ensures bilateral and joint interoperability throughout the Indo-Pacific theater,” said Brig. Gen. Michael Winkler, PACAF director of strategic plans and requirements. “We continuously evaluate our strategy, including how we deploy and employ various weapon systems, to ensure we deliver on our mission of providing U.S. Indo-Pacific Command with continuous unrivaled air, space, and cyberspace capabilities to ensure regional stability and security.”

The command shows its adaptability and innovation by planning and presenting multi-axis challenges to competitors while building on its core capabilities of command and control, movement and maneuver, firepower, protection, intelligence and sustainment, said Winkler.

“The recent 24-hour airpower demonstration PACAF did using B-1s, B-2s, and F-15s conducted simultaneously with joint and allied partners demonstrated how we are ready to fight tonight,” Winkler said. “We regularly show we can conduct long-range command and control in a dynamic environment to bring unparalleled movement, maneuver, and firepower while managing the protection and sustainment of our force.”

Executing the command’s mission requires responsiveness, resiliency, agility and an implicit trust in commanders at all levels to know and execute their mission, said Maj. Gen. Lance Pilch, PACAF director of air and cyberspace operations.

“To secure our operational advantage in a rapidly evolving environment, we must cultivate an agile posture and refine all-domain command and control capabilities aimed at synchronizing joint airpower at the time and space of our choosing,” Pilch said. “We demonstrate ACE daily as we continue to plan and execute ahead of our competition and, when called upon, seize air superiority, decisively deliver effects and maintain initiative in heavily contested domains.”

The Air Force is focused on sustaining its current capacity, while seeking emerging technologies vital to the successful control and exploitation of the air and cyberspace domains, Pilch added.

“The Air Force continues to maintain the viability of the U.S. strategic bomber force through a series of upgrades to the B-2 and B-52, which will ensure continued survivability and compatibility with modern weaponry,” said Pilch. “It is imperative these and other systems remain safe, secure and effective within the anti-access/area denial environments until replaced by the B-21 and other modernized deterrent systems.”

Using ACE as its scheme of maneuver and innovation as its guidepost, the command is postured to be proactive to deter aggression and when called upon increase survivability while generating combat airpower to defeat a near-peer adversary.

“We are a lethal, innovative and interoperable force focused on a shared vision with our allies and partners to uphold a free and open Indo-Pacific,” said Pilch.

CONNECT WITH USINDOPACOM
Facebook

Like Us
Twitter
354,825
Follow Us

ENGAGE & CONNECT MORE WITH PACOM

                                                 

IN THE USINDOPACOM NEWS
USCGC Frederick Hatch concludes historic patrol with engagements in the Philippines, fisheries enforcement in Republic of Palau, Papua New Guinea
The USCGC Frederick Hatch (WPC 1143) conducts joint fisheries boardings with members of the Papua New Guinea National Fisheries Authority and the Customs Service in the Papua New Guinea exclusive economic zone on Nov. 6, 2023. The crew successfully concluded a routine 47-day expeditionary patrol covering more than 8,200 nautical miles under Operation Blue Pacific, returning to Guam on Thanksgiving, distinguished by a series of historic and strategic engagements across the Western Pacific and Oceania. The Frederick Hatch is the 43rd 154-foot Sentinel-class fast response cutter named for a surfman and lighthouse keeper who was a two-time Gold Life Saving Medal recipient. They regularly patrol Oceania, fostering international cooperation and supporting maritime safety, security, and stewardship. (U.S Coast Guard photo)
Nov. 30, 2023 - The USCGC Frederick Hatch (WPC 1143) successfully concluded a routine 47-day expeditionary patrol covering more than 8,200 nautical miles under Operation Blue Pacific, returning to Guam on Thanksgiving, distinguished by a...

51st FW soars with allies in CS23
A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon assigned to the 36th Fighter Squadron returns from Commando Sling 23 at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea, Nov. 27, 2023. The 36th FS flew 60 sorties, consisting of basic fighter maneuvers, air combat maneuvers, defensive counter air and offensive counter air sorties, integrating with various Republic of Singapore Air Force fighter squadrons. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Trevor Gordnier)
Nov. 30, 2023 - U.S. Air Force pilots and maintainers assigned to the 51st Fighter Wing, Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea, participated in Commando Sling 23, a PACAF-sponsored field training exercise at Paya Lebar Air Base, Singapore, Nov...

Japan, Republic of Korea, U.S. Navies Conduct Trilateral Maritime Exercise
231126-N-IW069-1072 AT SEA (Nov. 26, 2023) Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd (DDG 100), Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett (DDG 104), Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) Murasame-class destroyer JS Kirisame (DD 104), and Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) Sejong the Great-class guided-missile destroyer Sejong the Great (DDG-991) sail together during a trilateral maritime exercise. The exercise provided the JMSDF, ROKN and U.S. Navy an opportunity to sail together, conduct enhanced planning and advanced maritime communication operations to bolster their warfighting readiness and deterrence capabilities. Vinson, the flagship of Carrier Strike Group ONE, is deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Isaiah M. Williams)
Nov. 29, 2023 - The U.S. Navyโ€™s Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 1 conducted a trilateral maritime exercise with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) and Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN), Nov. 26...

CBRN Soldiers bolster combined defense posture near Korean Demilitarized Zone
American Soldiers from the 59th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) Company (Hazardous Response)
Nov. 29, 2023 - A deployed U.S. Army Chemical Corps company is training together with U.S. and South Korean military forces near the worldโ€™s most heavily guarded border...

U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Hosts Virtual Chiefs of Defense Meeting
Adm. John C. Aquilino, Commander, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, hosts a virtual meeting with the Indo-Pacific Chiefs of Defense. Senior military leaders from 20 countries discussed security concerns and regional issues as part of the quarterly meetings to strengthen military-to-military relationships and foster regional cooperation. USINDOPACOM is committed to enhancing stability in the Indo-Pacific region by promoting security cooperation, encouraging peaceful development, responding to contingencies, deterring aggression and, when necessary, fighting to win. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Shannon Smith)
Nov. 29, 2023 - Adm. John C. Aquilino, Commander, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, hosted a virtual meeting Nov. 28 with the Indo-Pacific Chiefs of Defense to strengthen military-to-military relationships, discuss common security issues and foster...