{"id":39230,"date":"2018-09-16T18:34:39","date_gmt":"2018-09-16T18:34:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/09\/16\/acc-plans-to-be-training-more-then-training-better\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:07:41","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:07:41","slug":"acc-plans-to-be-training-more-then-training-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/09\/16\/acc-plans-to-be-training-more-then-training-better\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Combat Command plans to be \u2018training more, then training better\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With the Air Force\u2019s shift toward preparing for a potential fight<\/a> against a \u201cgreat power\u201d nation such as Russia or China, Air Combat Command will have to continue making adjustments<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the biggest will be overhauling how its pilots and other airmen train, said Gen. Mike Holmes<\/a>, the ACC commander, in an Aug. 28 interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January 2017, ACC leaders reconsidered how the command measures the potential threats it could face, and whether its airmen are ready. For two decades, ACC \u2014 like much of the rest of the military \u2014 has focused on foes such as the Islamic State and Taliban. Now, the command has expanded its \u201cthreat matrix process\u201d to take into account the threats that North Korea, Iran, Russia or China present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ACC uses that information to tailor its training toward defeating those kinds of threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve changed the amount that we\u2019re training. We\u2019re trying to train more, and we\u2019re trying to train better against those particular threats,\u201d Holmes said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat do we need to fund in flying hours, or the equivalent of that for our ground units, to help them train more? What do we need to fund in sustainment of their weapon systems? And what specific tools do we need to make that training more effective?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of its focus on \u201ctraining more, and then training better,\u201d Holmes said ACC has hired more contractors to serve as adversary pilots during training at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. As a result, ACC pilots at Nellis will be able to spend more time practicing the skills they need in combat, and less time pretending to be opposing forces, he said. The command hopes to expand that next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A flight of Aggressor F-15 Eagles and F-16 Fighting Falcons fly in formation over the Nevada Test and Training Ranges on 5 June, 2008. The jets are assigned to the 64th and 65th Aggressor squadrons at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. The Aggressor mission is to prepare the combat air forces, joint and allied aircrews for tomorrow\u00d5s victories with challenging and realistic threat replication, training, academics and feedback.\r(U.S. Air Force photo\/ Master Sgt. Kevin J. Gruenwald) released\r\r\r<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

ACC is also trying to improve its ground emitters to simulate threats such as surface-to-air missiles during training. Holmes said the command has already acquired and begun testing advanced emitters to support F-35 training, and it plans to expand them further beginning in fiscal 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the command also needs to continue rebuilding its manning levels in key jobs, Holmes said. ACC has made \u201cgreat strides\u201d in plugging the alarming shortfall of maintenance airmen, he said. It is continuing to develop those new maintainers, many of whom have a skill level of 3, to turn them into more experienced 5- and 7-level maintainers so they can do more advanced and unsupervised work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holmes as other manning concerns, particularly tactical air control party airmen, special missions aviators \u2014 who serve as gunners and engineers on ACC\u2019s rescue helicopters \u2014 and air battle managers who fly on AWACS and JSTARS command and control and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance planes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A combination of retention problems, production shortfalls and the lingering effects of the Air Force\u2019s 2014 drawdown led to the shortfalls, Holmes said. But the high operational tempos they continually work under has also strained those airmen.<\/p>\n\n\n\t