GWANGJU AIR BASE, South Korea –
Airmen from the 8th Fighter Wing made history during Exercise Beverly Pack 25-1 by executing their first Agile Combat Employment (ACE) movement, deploying to a simulated forward location at Gwangju Air Base, Republic of Korea, Jan. 12-16.
This milestone highlights the Wolf Pack’s combat readiness by implementing this innovative approach to projecting airpower for the first time on the Korean Peninsula.
“We are exercising our dispersal capabilities by taking a small detachment from our main operating base and moving them here for a short period of time to execute contingency [operations,]” said U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Charles Burns, ACE detachment director of operations. “Based on intelligence, we would know when enemies will be attacking certain locations, so we could take our forces and move them to different locations to continue to have the capabilities to send combat sorties and continue to disrupt the enemies without ourselves being disrupted.”
The simulated forward operating base at Gwangju focused on integrating the 8th FW’s specialized capabilities into a simulated wartime environment. Airmen established and sustained combat operations, adapting to austere conditions and maintaining operational continuity.
“We are accomplishing ACE on [one] level, and additionally stress-testing the Mission Generation Force Element concept,” said U.S. Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Shelley Schofield, ACE detachment senior enlisted leader. “This has led us into a larger package of mission generation capability -- we are able to fix aircraft more in depth based off the things and people we brought with us here.”
Maintaining agility is essential to preserving survivability in a contested environment, and Wolf Pack Airmen exercised these capabilities to fortify their skills in accomplishing the 8 FW’s core mission to Defend the Base, Accept Follow-on Forces and Take the Fight North.
“ACE is all about adapting and still being able to accomplish the mission,” said Airman 1st Class Quatavious Cash, 35th Fighter Generation Squadron assistant dedicated crew chief. “We are out here moving at a faster pace in a foreign location, testing our agility and capabilities, and still accomplishing the mission. This training was tough but beneficial in preparing us for a real fight.”
By completing the first full-scale ACE exercise on the Korean Peninsula, the Wolf Pack not only showcased its operational readiness, but also its warfighting advantage, employing advanced tactics to ensure the resilience of U.S. airpower in this region.