News United States Air Force
 AMC, allies kickoff Mobility Guardian 23 in Indo-PacificPublished July 5, 2023
                        
                        By   Air Mobility Command Public Affairs
                **JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii (AFNS) --**
                Exercise Mobility Guardian 2023, **Air Mobility Command**’s largest full-spectrum readiness exercise in the command’s history, began July 5 in the **Indo-Pacific region**.
This year’s MG23 reflects an evolution from the exercise’s previous three U.S.-based iterations and aims to understand and overcome distance to deliver the mobilization, deployment and sustainment functions that the Joint Force, allies and partners depend on to respond to challenges worldwide.
“It should be evident by now that success of the Joint Force requires a capable and integrated Mobility Air Force,” said **Gen. Mike Minihan**, AMC commander. “MG23 will turn planned integration into operational integration within the theater, stretching MAF capabilities to meet future demands and protect shared international interests with our allies and partners.”
A multinational endeavor, MG23 will feature seven participating countries – **Australia**, **Canada**, France, **Japan**, **New Zealand****,** the **United Kingdom**, and the United States – operating approximately 70 mobility aircraft across multiple locations spanning a 3,000 mile exercise area through July 21. MG23 will employ 3,000 personnel in direct support of the exercise and expects to support more than 15,000 U.S. forces, and allied and partner participants associated with other exercises this year, seven times that of MG21 and nearly three times that of MG19.01:05
    
    

    
    
    This year’s MG23 reflects an evolution from the exercise’s previous three U.S.-based iterations and aims to understand and overcome distance to deliver the mobilization, deployment and sustainment functions that the Joint Force, allies and partners depend on to respond to challenges worldwide. (U.S. Air Force video by Staff Sgt. Dalton Williams)






Planning began in the spring of 2022 for the Pacific endeavor involving more than 200 planners from across AMC, including the headquarters staff, **18th Air Force**, the **618th Air Operations Center** and the **U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center**. AMC exercise planners partnered with planners from dozens of additional Air Force, joint and international units to ensure the exercise delivers on its intent to demonstrate interoperability across joint and combined international forces.
“The collaboration and connection formed alongside our DoD teammates and our allies and partners during planning and execution will pay dividends today, tomorrow and into our unquestionably complex future,” said Lt. Col. Jake Parker, MG23 exercise director.
Concurrently to MG23, Parker said the MAF will also serve as the “cohesive glue” for a series of other exercises occurring across the Indo-Pacific this summer. AMC’s role in enabling the meaningful maneuver of forces throughout the theater underscores the necessity of logistics and realistic interoperability in the region.U.S. Air Force Capt. Christopher Allen, 6th Airlift Squadron deputy chief of squadron training, co-pilots a C-17 Globemaster to be refueled by a KC-46 Pegasus over the Eastern seaboard, Mar. 9, 2023.Capt. Christopher Allen, 6th Airlift Squadron deputy chief of squadron training, co-pilots a C-17 Globemaster to be refueled by a KC-46 Pegasus over the Eastern seaboard, Mar. 9, 2023. The aerial refueling of the C-17 occurred during Exercise White Stag, a full-spectrum readiness exercise that demonstrated the 305th Air Mobility Wing’s overall ability to deploy and sustain rapid global mobility around the world. During this exercise, 6AS aircrew collaborated with 87th Logistics Readiness Squadron fuels management flight and the 305th Aerial Port Squadron to on- and off-load an R-11 refueler onto a C-17, as well as perform a wet-wing defuel of the aircraft all while operating within a contested environment. Wet-wing defueling supports the Air Force’s Agile Combat Employment concept, which allows forces to operate with varying levels of capacity and support to get to the fight. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Joseph Morales)
            
            
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Each participating country has the opportunity to hone vital readiness skills and enhance interoperability in operationally limited environments among multiple mission areas to include airlift, aerial refueling, aeromedical evacuation, the **Global Air Mobility Support System**, command and control and humanitarian and disaster assistance.
“This is not a pass or fail scenario,” Parker said. “This is a proving ground for the MAF’s new status quo tested through the application of flexible and agile concepts. The MAF will do its part to ensure the Joint Force and our allies and partners can overcome transnational security challenges by redefining what MAF readiness looks like.”
Minihan made it clear that preparation for MG23 was not restricted to a selective group of planners—taking heed to what Minihan said was Air Force Chief of Staff **Gen. CQ Brown, Jr.**’s **directive** to “go faster.” When he took command in October 2021, Minihan propelled the command toward droves of unconventional but risk-informed approaches, guiding the way AMC conducts business.  







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    Exercise Mobility Guardian 2023, Air Mobility Command’s largest full-spectrum readiness exercise in the command’s history, began July 5, 2023, in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Air Force video by Tech. Sgt. Zachary Boyer)





From the dozens of wing-led large-force drills exercising **Agile Combat Employment** and multi-capable Airmen, to working a path that operationalized the **KC-46A Pegasus**, the command’s approach throughout the last year was designed to generate an unprecedented level of readiness and advantage for the Joint Force.
“The Mobility Air Forces’ success is non-negotiable and non-transferable, and the implications of a less-than-fearless and less-than-first class MAF are severe,” Minihan said. “We fully understand the magnitude of responsibility that rests on our shoulders, and we will deliver what is required to serve our fellow allies and partners and preserve our nation’s sacred peace, prosperity and prestige.”
For more information on exercise Mobility Guardian 2023 visit **here**.LR 



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