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Command and Control Capability Demonstrated on KC-135

U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Dee Mewbourne (right), USTRANSCOM deputy commander, discusses the mission he flew with (left to right) U.S. Air Force Maj. Russ Leinart, U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Ian Shelley and U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Ted Langstroth as part of a U.S. Air Force Weapons School Integration exercise June 4, 2021, at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. Mewbourne flew with the 509th Weapons Squadron (WPS) and visited the U.S. Air Force Weapons School. Photo by André Kok, USTRANSCOM/PA

NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. (June 25, 2021) – Warfighting readiness is U.S. Transportation Command’s (USTRANSCOM) number one priority. Earlier this month, U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Dee L. Mewbourne, USTRANSCOM Deputy Commander, visited the U.S. Air Force Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base to observe how USTRANSCOM assets are training to improve integration with the Joint Force in contested environment operations.

“The surest way to prevail in war is to make every preparation for it,” said Mewbourne. “We maintain our competitive advantage through high-end training with realistic scenarios that are fully integrated across the Joint Force to test our concepts and emerging capabilities.”

High-end training, in a scenario like this integration exercise, is key to making sure crews and equipment are ready and prepared to adjust – and still accomplish the mission.


“The primary mission demonstrated the flexibility of aircraft and aircrew as part of the Air Force’s Advanced Battle Management System,” said U.S. Air Force Col. James Blech, former chief, USTRANSCOM Commander’s Action Group, and orchestrator of the Weapons School visit.

Mewbourne flew on a KC-135 with the 509th Weapons Squadron (WPS) as part of a U.S. Air Force Weapons School Integration exercise to witness a scenario that added a vital role to the cornerstone of U.S. air refueling – one that tested command and control in a contested and degraded environment against the backdrop of kinetic operations under the cover of night.


ABMS is the Air Force’s component of the Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) framework, which connects all elements of the U.S. military across all five warfighting domains: air, land, sea, space and cyberspace.


Over the course of a four-hour mission, the flight navigator, U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Ian Shelley with the help of co-pilot, U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Ted Langstroth, passed targeting information to fighter and bomber aircraft participating in the exercise. While these manual functions were tedious and time-consuming at times, they demonstrated a small potential of what a future command and control system could do automatically.


The scenario involved a multitude of joint air and surface forces and tested their ability to combine effects and compliment capabilities. It also showcased the value of the Weapons School program. “It was an immensely busy and challenging environment,” Mewbourne said the next day during a post-flight brief. “When achieved, integrated C2 empowers agile and adaptive crews and leaders to collaborate and make decisions at echelon; to that measure, this training was a success.”
Integrating a broader command and control function to the KC-135 is one way to “make an old jet feel new again and continue to remain relevant” said Shelley. As the standard bearer for tactical excellence, the 509th WPS is a perfect place for this integration to occur.

According to Blech, KC-135s have performed communication relay duties in the past, such as Combat Lightning missions out of Thailand, relaying warning information to aircraft operating in North Vietnam. “In the future fight we’ll have to think about how to automate this relay function via common datalinks for the entire Joint Force,” he said.


Mewbourne encouraged students and staff of the Weapons School to continue elevating the body of knowledge for both the Air Force and Joint Force and spreading this knowledge throughout the crew force. He also noted his appreciation of their high level of commitment, professionalism, and the capabilities they bring forward.

USTRANSCOM exists as a warfighting combatant command to project and sustain military power at a time and place of the nation’s choosing. Powered by dedicated men and women, TRANSCOM underwrites the lethality of the Joint Force, advances American interests around the globe, and provides our nation's leaders with strategic flexibility to select from multiple options, while creating multiple dilemmas for our adversaries.


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