Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 News
    
        Photos

    Week in Photos

    Air Force TV

    Commentaries

    Features

    Art

    About Us
    
        Air Force Senior Leaders
    
        SECAF

    CSAF

    CMSAF

    Biographies

    Fact Sheets

    SECAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library
    
        CSAF Leadership Library 2022

    CSAF Leadership Library 2021

    CSAF Reading List Pre-2020 Archive
    
        2018 CSAF Reading List

    2017 CSAF Reading List

    2016 CSAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library 2023

    CMSAF Leadership Library

    50 Years of the CMSAF

    Adjunct Professors

    Air Force Strategic Documents

    Arctic Strategy

    Empowered Airmen

    State Licensure Portability

    Careers

    AF Federal Advisory Committees

    AF 75th Anniversary

    Policy Updates

    AF Content Management

    Contact Us

    AF Sites
    
        Site RegistrationU.S. Air Force LogoAir Force

        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      From left, Staff Sgt. Erick Vega, an avionics specialist with the 555th Fighter Squadron out of Aviano Air Base, Italy, attempts to figure out why the space systems on his F-16 Fighting Falcon aren't working correctly, while Chief Master Sgt. Tony Russell, a Red Flag Inspector General evaluator, observers. Airmen from the 527th Space Aggressor Squadron attempt to challenge Red Flag participants by posing attacks on space assets, simulating a potential attack by the enemy. "We challenge space forces to get better. And they do," said Capt. Brian Goodman, 527th SAG.  (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. David Salanitri)Professional bad guys: Space aggressors prepare Airmen for the enemy
                        
                        
                        Staff Sgt. Erick Vega, an avionics specialist with the 555th Fighter Squadron, attempts to figure out why the space systems on his F-16 Fighting Falcon aren't working correctly, while Chief Master Sgt. Tony Russell, a Red Flag Inspector General evaluator, observes during Red Flag 16-3 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., July 21, 2016. Airmen from the 527th Space Aggressor Squadron attempted to challenge Red Flag participants by posing attacks on space assets, simulating a potential attack by the enemy. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. David Salanitri)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res
        


        From left, Senior Master Sgt. Thomas Arns, 527 Space Aggressor Squadron, monitors a frequency instrument while coworker, Capt. Brian Goodman, communicates that they are ready to test a fighter squadron's GPS capability July 20, 2016 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada during exercise Red Flag. The space aggressors conduct training mission to educate forces on how to identify threats and mitigate their effects. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. David Salanitri)Professional bad guys: Space aggressors prepare Airmen for the enemy
                        
                        
                        Senior Master Sgt. Thomas Arns, of the 527th Space Aggressor Squadron, monitors a frequency instrument while his co-worker, Capt. Brian Goodman, communicates that they are ready to test a fighter squadron's GPS capability July 20, 2016, at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., during exercise Red Flag 16-3. The space aggressors conducted training missions to educate forces on how to identify threats and mitigate their effects. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. David Salanitri)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res
        


        From right, Senior Master Sgt. Thomas Arns, 527 Space Aggressor Squadron, cracks a smile while undergoing proficiency training given by Capt. Brian Goodman July 20, 2016 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada during exercise Red Flag. Red Flag 16-3 is aimed at teaching service members how to integrate air, space and cyberspace elements. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. David Salanitri)Professional bad guys: Space aggressors prepare Airmen for the enemy
                        
                        
                        From right, Senior Master Sgt. Thomas Arns, of the 527th Space Aggressor Squadron, cracks a smile while undergoing proficiency training given by Capt. Brian Goodman at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., during exercise Red Flag 16-3, July 20, 2016. Red Flag is aimed at teaching service members how to integrate air, space and cyberspace elements. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. David Salanitri)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res
        


        Capt. Brian Goodman, 527th Space Aggressor Squadron flasher flight commander prepares a device moments before testing a fighter squadron's GPS capability without the squadron knowing, July 21, 2016 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, during exercise Red Flag. “We are presenting them problem sets that they have to critically think through, develop solutions for and go out there and execute them,” Goodman said.  (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. David Salanitri)Professional bad guys: Space aggressors prepare Airmen for the enemy
                        
                        
                        Capt. Brian Goodman, a 527th Space Aggressor Squadron flasher flight commander, prepares a device moments before testing a fighter squadron's GPS capability without the squadron knowing July 21, 2016, at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., during exercise Red Flag 16-3. Red Flag is aimed at teaching service members how to integrate air, space and cyberspace elements. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. David Salanitri)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res

Professional bad guys: Space aggressors prepare Airmen for the enemyPublished July 26, 2016
                    
                    By Tech. Sgt. Julius Delos Reyes
                    
                    
                    Air Force Space Command Public Affairs
            **NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. (AFNS) --**Walking out to an F-16 Fighting Falcon, Staff Sgt. Erick Vega is told upon landing that the pilot experienced loss of GPS.As midnight quickly approaches, the blue light from Vega’s laptop illuminates his face as he goes to work, trying to determine if there’s a maintenance issue with the avionics or something worse.An hour passes before Vega, an avionics specialist from Aviano Air Base, Italy, determines that adversaries have degraded the system through an attack on space assets.Vega, a member of the 555th Fighter Squadron, is one of 3,500 service members participating in exercise Red Flag 16-3, a realistic air combat training exercise that provides about 1,900 possible targets, threat systems and opposing enemy forces.A quarter mile away under the cover of night, Capt. Brian Goodman and Senior Master Sgt. Thomas Arns prepare to test F-16 maintainers, like Vega, on what a space attack may look like should an adversary attempt one.The maintainers have been told that F-16 pilots experienced a degraded GPS system during flight.As Goodman and Arns, members of the 527th Space Aggressor Squadron from Schriever AFB, Colorado, launch their mission to degrade the fighter squadron’s GPS systems -- like a potential adversary may try to do -- avionics specialists scramble to try and figure out if their equipment is failing or if an adversary is attacking them.The scenario in some ways could be related to boxing. Hitting a punching bag may help with endurance, but few things help more than training with someone who can punch back. They need a training adversary who thinks like an enemy and fights back.“I am a professional bad guy. I get paid to be your enemy,” Goodman said, smirking.Goodman, a prior enlisted aircraft maintainer, is part of a team of 25 active-duty and Reserve Airmen from the 527th and 26th SAS conducting space aggressor operations at Nellis AFB as part of the three-week Red Flag exercise.The 12,000 square miles of airspace and 2.9-million acres of land at the Nevada Test and Training Range serve as the Red Flag boxing arena, where red and blue forces, also known as the good guys and bad guys, battle in air, space and cyberspace domains.“We are somebody who goes into the ring with the good guy,” Goodman said. “As aggressors, our job is to be the sparring partner for blue forces.”To provide the best possible opponent, the space aggressors must think like an enemy. In doing so, their opponent must think and react to a freethinking “enemy” rather than a pretend scenario.“We research, we train and we replicate adversary tactics against space assets,” said Arns, the squadron superintendent who is also a fully qualified aggressor.As part of their mission of teaching warfighters, the space aggressors conduct training missions to educate forces on how to identify threats and mitigate their effects. Then, the team replicates the adversary tactics during Red Flag.“During the exercise, they see the enemy effects,” Arns said. “They can apply what they learned from us and overcome what we are doing.”Dubbed as the space bad guys, the team leverages techniques and capabilities among others to present a realistic and relevant adversary. The aggressors provide an operationally degraded GPS environment, attack communication satellites and establish red force system networks, serving as blue forces’ targets.“We are presenting them problem sets that they have to critically think through, develop solutions for and go out there and execute them,” Goodman said.As Red Flag progresses, the aggressors ramp things up, including the space threats. They play more challenges with the intent of ensuring the warfighters continue to progress and learn from their mistakes and achievements.“We don’t take pride in crushing blue forces,” Arns said. “If we dominate them, there’s no added benefit for these folks. We want blue forces to win. We want them to realize we are engaging them, and then use logic and tactics and overcome what we are doing. It makes them better warfighters.”Goodman said conducting realistic space threats during Red Flag ensures a warfighting force is better prepared for combat.“Ultimately, when you are in a real life fight ... the fog and friction of war and the myriad of things that go on in the middle of a battle presents a different landscape when you’re operating in a simulator or a virtual or constructed environment. Being able to fight in a real time with a thinking adversary hones your on-the-spot critical thinking and problem-solving skills,” he explained.With space systems, such as GPS and military satellite communications, integrated into the Air Force mission, training warfighters into overcoming adversary threats has become important.“There are adversaries who see how much space brings to the table and how much space has become critical to us in waging and winning wars. They want to take that piece away,” Goodman said.Gone are the days when space is free range. It is becoming more congested and contested, he continued. This is one of the reasons why the space aggressors exist.“If you want to be a better fighter, you need to find somebody who will challenge you to be better,” Goodman said. “We challenge space forces to get better. And they do. We as an Air Force and American people have a more competent, resilient and more battle-hardened and more war-ready space force. We play into that fight.”aggressor 



f-16 



nellis afb 



training 



red flag 



exercise

Related Links
        VIDEO - Professional bad guys Featured News
        Senior Leader Priorities
                DAF leaders talk budget, reoptimizing the force
                    
                    DAF leaders speak at National Character and Leadership Symposium
                    
                    DAF members recognized during BEYA STEM awards
                    
                    DAF senior enlisted advisors discuss Airmen, Guardians in the fight
                    
                    SecAF Kendall AFA Warfare Symposium Q&A: Reoptimizing for Great Power CompetitionInnovation
                AFWERX director discusses role of tech startups, quick innovation in Great Power Competition
                    
                    DAF delivers lethality at the speed of data during Project Convergence Capstone 4
                    
                    DAF welcomes industry partners to HQ development program
                    
                    DAF announces Spark Tank 2024 finalists
                    
                    Chief Digital, Artificial Intelligence Office to host hackathon in HawaiiMAJCOM News
                Safety enterprise announces new mission, vision, goals in 2024 strategic plan
                    
                    Air Combat Command welcomes new commander
                    
                    USAFE-AFAFRICA commander discusses Integrated Air, Missile Defense during Munich Security Conference
                    
                    Flosi to AFMC family: Embrace change, make every day count
                    
                    AMC rises to increasing global tension
 Quick Links
AccessibilityContact UsEqual OpportunityFOIA | Privacy | Section 508Information QualityInspector GeneralJAG Court-Martial DocketLink DisclaimerNo FEAR ActOpen GovernmentOSI Tip LinePlain LanguageQuestionsResilienceRSSSite MapVeterans Crisis LineCareers
Join the Air ForceAir Force BenefitsAir Force CareersAir Force ReserveAir National GuardCivilian ServiceConnect
            Get Social with Us
            
            Official United States Air Force Website
    Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil