News United States Air Force
 ACE exercise helps prepare 775th CES Airmen for deploymentPublished May 6, 2022
                        
                        By Kendahl Johnson
                        
                        
                        75th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
                **HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah (AFNS) --**
                Airmen from the 775th Civil Engineer Squadron recently participated in a two-day Agile Combat Employment exercise at **Hill Air Force Base**.The exercise tested 775th Civil Engineer Squadron Airmen to operate using the principles of Agile Combat Employment (ACE) in a highly-constrained environment.Staff Sgt. Tyler Lebbert, 775th Emergency Management Flight, tests liquid from an unexploded ordnance scenario during a training exercise at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, April 20, 2022. The exercise tested 775th Civil Engineer Squadron Airmen to operate using the principles of Agile Combat Employment in a highly constrained environment. The event tested the squadron's ability to survive, communicate and operate in a peer-to-peer conflict, problem solve under stress and conduct Air Force Specialty Code-specific mission tasks with and without equipment constraints. (U.S. Air Force photo by R. Nial Bradshaw)
            
            
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The Airmen participated in a simulated deployment to a forward-operating base, training and operating with limited resources. They underwent one day of briefings and cross-discipline training, learning new skill sets from their peers in other career fields, and a second day at the Base Operations Readiness Training Area practicing what they learned.
“Our main objective was to ensure our Airmen understood the operational environment of a peer-to-peer conflict,” said Lt. Col. Daniel Long, 775th CES commander. “We did that through threat situation briefs and then setting up scenarios that thrust them into that threat environment. We wanted them to understand how to survive and operate in that environment and to understand how they could best perform their jobs.”The exercise tested 775th Civil Engineer Squadron Airmen to operate using the principles of Agile Combat Employment (ACE) in a highly-constrained environment.Staff Sgt. Kaleb Marquis, 775th Explosive Ordnance Flight, prepares to move a simulated, unexploded ordnance during an exercise at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, April 20, 2022. The exercise tested 775th Civil Engineer Squadron Airmen to operate using the principles of Agile Combat Employment in a highly constrained environment. The event tested the squadron's ability to survive, communicate and operate in a peer-to-peer conflict, problem solve under stress and conduct Air Force Specialty Code-specific mission tasks with and without equipment constraints. (U.S. Air Force photo by R. Nial Bradshaw)
            
            
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    The exercise tested 775th Civil Engineer Squadron Airmen to operate using the principles of Agile Combat Employment (ACE) in a highly-constrained environment.Staff Sgt. Tyler Lebbert and Senior Airmen Codie Braegger, 775th Emergency Services Flight, secure a liquid sample from an unexploded ordnance scenario during an exercise at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, April 20, 2022. The exercise tested 775th Civil Engineer Squadron Airmen to operate using the principles of Agile Combat Employment, or ACE, in a highly constrained environment. The event tested the squadron's ability to survive, communicate and operate in a peer-to-peer conflict, problem solve under stress and conduct Air Force Specialty Code-specific mission tasks with and without equipment constraints. (U.S. Air Force photo by R. Nial Bradshaw)
            
            
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    The exercise tested 775th Civil Engineer Squadron Airmen to operate using the principles of Agile Combat Employment (ACE) in a highly-constrained environment.Airmen with the 775th Explosive Ordnance Flight prepare to move a simulated casualty during an exercise at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, April 20, 2022. The exercise tested 775th Civil Engineer Squadron Airmen to operate using the principles of Agile Combat Employment in a highly constrained environment. The event tested the squadron's ability to survive, communicate and operate in a peer-to-peer conflict, problem solve under stress and conduct Air Force Specialty Code-specific mission tasks with and without equipment constraints. (U.S. Air Force photo by R. Nial Bradshaw)
            
            
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ACE is a proactive and reactive scheme of maneuver meant to increase survivability while generating combat power. Exercises like this contribute to the evolution of a force of multi-capable Airmen who can operate in such an environment, improving mission readiness and increasing capabilities in less-than-optimal environments.

Long said that in a deployed environment, Airmen would be asked to perform their jobs without many of the resources they are used to having. The exercise scenarios were designed to force Airmen to work in a confusing environment with limited equipment, communications, and personnel.

First Lt. James Stapleton, an EOD officer who assisted in the planning of the exercise, said traditionally, training is done with maximum or near maximum resources available, and training without all their regular tools available was beneficial.

“We haven’t really trained in this way before,” Stapleton said. “The exercise empowered our Airmen to be more flexible and to learn to be equipped to handle situations creatively and efficiently despite challenges or obstacles.”

Another major objective for the exercise was to allow the three Air Force Specialty Codes in the squadron – firefighters, explosive ordnance disposal technicians and emergency managers – an opportunity to cross-train. Individuals from each specialty taught basic skills and concepts to Airmen from other specialties.

The exercise tested 775th Civil Engineer Squadron Airmen to operate using the principles of Agile Combat Employment (ACE) in a highly-constrained environment.Airman Parker Kearns, Airman 1st Class Tristan Burns, and Staff Sgt. Micheal Rosales, 775th Fire and Emergency Services Flight, participate in an exercise at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, April 20, 2022. The training tested 775th Civil Engineer Squadron Airmen to operate using the principles of Agile Combat Employment, or ACE, in a highly constrained environment. The event tested the squadron's ability to survive, communicate and operate in a peer-to-peer conflict, problem solve under stress and conduct Air Force Specialty Code-specific mission tasks with and without equipment constraints. (U.S. Air Force photo by R. Nial Bradshaw)
            
            
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Long said this ACE exercise was the first of several that will become increasingly more challenging and complex, with the next exercise scheduled for this fall.FS 



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