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        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      Sentry Savannah builds warfighter readiness, lethalityPublished May 25, 2022
                    
                    By Tech. Sgt. Morgan Whitehouse
                    
                    
                    Air National Guard
            **SAVANNAH, Ga. (AFNS) --**About 1,300 Airmen, joint personnel, civilian partners and more than 50 airframes participated in exercise Sentry Savannah May 2-15.
Hosted by the **Air Dominance Center** at Savannah’s Combat Readiness Training Center, Sentry Savannah showcased the nation’s combat aircraft readiness.02:37
    
    

    
    
    Reservists from the 419th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, participate in Sentry Savannah, the Air National Guard’s largest fourth and fifth-generation fighter aircraft exercise. The annual exercise is held at the Air Dominance Center, one of only four Combat Readiness Training Centers in the United States. This is the first year the 419th FW has participated in the event, which it will use to validate its deployment model known as Agile Combat Employment. (U.S. Air Force video by Staff Sgt. Anthony Pham)






“Sentry Savannah is the **National Guard Bureau**’s premier counter air exercise specializing in fourth and fifth-generation fighter tactics,” said Lt. Col. Steven Thomas, exercise director. “The purpose of the exercise is to be able to bring in all of these different assets and be able to train face to face and learn from each other and learn the different tactics that each fighter brings to a fight to a near-peer adversary.”
Fighter aircraft involved in the exercise included **F-15C Eagle****s** from the Florida ANG; **F-16 Fighting Falcon**s from the South Carolina ANG; **F-22 Raptors** from the Virginia ANG; **F-35A Lightning II****s** from **Hill Air Force Base**, Utah; as well as F-22s and **T-38 Talons** from **Tyndall AFB**, Florida.
Throughout Sentry Savannah, simulated air battles were conducted in a military operations airspace stretching from Charleston, South Carolina, to Orlando, Florida, 30 to 120 miles off the East Coast.
“The clear benefit here at Sentry Savannah is the tactical air combat training,” said Capt. Kevin Danaher, Florida ANG pilot. “We get to integrate with different airframes from across the country and learn about what other airframes bring to the fight. When **we work together**, we’re able to bring out the strengths in each airframe.”A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon assigned to the 157th Fighter Squadron, South Carolina Air National Guard, undergoes maintenance on the flight line during exercise Sentry Savannah 22-1 at the Air Dominance Center in Savannah, Georgia, May 11, 2022.An F-16 Fighting Falcon assigned to the 157th Fighter Squadron, South Carolina Air National Guard, undergoes maintenance on the flightline during exercise Sentry Savannah 22-1 at the Air Dominance Center in Savannah, Ga., May 11, 2022. Exercises like Sentry Savannah are crucial for the warfighter to maintain readiness to integrate, operate and execute air superiority for the full spectrum of conflict. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Morgan Whitehouse)
            
            
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    An F-15 Eagle assigned to the 125th Fighter Wing, Florida Air National Guard, flies over the Air Dominance Center in Savannah, Georgia, during exercise Sentry Savannah 22-1 May 12, 2022. Sentry Savannah is the Air National Guard’s premier counter air exercise, encompassing 10 units of fourth- and fifth- generation fighter aircraft.An F-15 Eagle assigned to the 125th Fighter Wing, Florida Air National Guard, flies over the Air Dominance Center in Savannah, Ga., during exercise Sentry Savannah 22-1, May 12, 2022. Sentry Savannah is the Air National Guard’s premier counter air exercise, encompassing 10 units of fourth and fifth-generation fighter aircraft. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Morgan Whitehouse)
            
            
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    Two U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors assigned to the 149th Fighter Squadron, Virginia Air National Guard, arrive at the Air Dominance Center in Savannah, Georgia, during exercise Sentry Savannah 22-1 May 12, 2022. Sentry Savannah is the Air National Guard’s premier counter air exercise.Two F-22 Raptors assigned to the 149th Fighter Squadron, Virginia Air National Guard, arrive at the Air Dominance Center in Savannah, Ga., during exercise Sentry Savannah 22-1, May 12, 2022. Sentry Savannah is the Air National Guard’s premier counter air exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Morgan Whitehouse)
            
            
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In addition to providing the air battle practice space, Sentry Savannah enabled pilots to accomplish a significant portion of their annual flying requirements in just two weeks and served as a capstone for 22 pilots enrolled in Tyndall AFB’s F-22 training program.
Participants launched approximately 680 sorties, with each event centered on developing multi-capable Airmen with the Agile Combat Employment **mentality**.
“Another advantage of Sentry Savannah is that each unit has to pick up and do operations away from home station, which makes you get more into the expeditionary mindset,” Danaher said. “You have to think critically, innovate and overcome the inevitable challenges you’re going to have from doing your operations not at home, which mimics what we do when we actually project power in real-world situations.”
Exercises like Sentry Savannah are crucial for the warfighter to maintain readiness to integrate, operate and execute air superiority for the full spectrum of conflict.
“The common theme from our senior leaders is that we have to train for tomorrow’s fight,” Thomas said. “That is exactly what Sentry Savannah does. We are the only CRTC training the next generation of fighter pilots for tomorrow’s fight today.”LR 



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