AEF Air and Space Expeditionary Force 1

Overview  Setting the Stage for Change/Background  The Air and Space Expeditionary Force Concept  Air and Space Expeditionary Force Structure 2

Containment… to Engagement Containment… to Engagement Setting the stage… Cold War Influence 3

Cold War Air Force Today’s Air Force A New Challenge UNCLASSIFIED 4

Overseas Basing During The Cold War AlconburyLakenheath BentwatersMildenhall ChicksandsMolesworth CroughtonUpper Heyford FairfordWethersfield Greenham CommonWoodbridge High Wycombe BitburgSembach HahnSpangdahlem Hessishe-OldendorfTempelhof LindseyWuescheim RamsteinZweibruecken Rhein Main Lajes Field Zaragoza Torrejon Moron Dhahran Izmir Ankara Incirlik Pirinclik Iraklion Hellenikon Aviano San Vito Comiso Soesterberg Florennes Clark Andersen Misawa Yokota Kadena Osan Kunsan Howard Albrook Thule Containment Cold War Air Force - Containment Strategy 5

Overseas Basing Today…70 Reduction Lakenheath Mildenhall Molesworth Croughton Lajes Field Incirlik Aviano Andersen Misawa Yokota Kadena Osan Kunsan Thule Spangdahlem Ramstein Post Cold War Reduced force structure and fewer forward locations 6

AEF Basics Contingency Basing Al Jabar Shaikh Isa Camp Doha Ali Al Salem Taif Prince Sultan Seeb International Al Dahfra Rota Moron Brindisi Rimini Cervia Gioia Del Colle Sigonella Falconra/Ancona Istres Tuzla Taszar Diego Garcia Tirana Akrotiri Budapest Geilenkirchen Rhein Main Einsiedlerhof Brize Norton Fairford Thessaloniki Manta Curacao Aruba 21st Century AF engagement requires expeditionary basing 7

JTF Full Acctg JTF Bravo JIATF East Arrival Zone Transit Zone Haiti JIATF South Northern Watch Deliberate Forge Joint Forge Southern Watch De-Mining Able Sentry Safe Border De-Mining Korean Theater Laser Strike Source Zone De-Mining Over 70,000 mobility deployments to 140 countries Over 1000 counter- narcotics sorties to Latin America ( 65 in 1999 ) Over 100 Denton Amendment humanitarian relief missions to 30 countries Nearly 50 Southern Watch deployments and over 15,000 sorties flown Over 30 deployments to Northern Watch and over 14,000 sorties flown Forward Bases Current Ops Current Peace Operations Post-Cold War Ops Legend Almost 8,000 Airmen standing watch in Korea Over two million daily rations delivered in Afghanistan Global Engagement Averages 8

 Post Cold War Reality …  45% less end strength – 657K to 320K  45% less overseas – 107K to 59K  70% overseas basing infrastructure gone – from 50 down to 15  Regional hotspots  400% increase in OCONUS ops tempo  Post Gulf War presence mission imbalance  Only 12% of eligible airmen carrying the load (80K of 657K)  Retention and recruitment concerns rising  Combat capability eroding  Limited predictability and stability  WHAT DID WE DO TO CHANGE THIS? The Need for AEF 9

 Beginning in 1999, the AEF concept became the “Air Force’s guiding vision for how we organize, train, and equip to deploy and sustain our Air Forces for military operations oversees”  …should provide:  A New Playbook to meet combatant commander’s needs  Smarter Use of all resources  Better integration of the Total Force  Method to quantify “cost of engagement” What is an AEF? Concept Bottom Line: It’s how we present AF Forces to the Combatant Commander 10

A Deployed Force 11

A More Deployed Force On average there are 14,600 AF members deployed during non–crisis state (35,000 currently 07) 12

 AEF pair is a collection of combat capability that  allows us to better manage the combat employment  10 / 4 / 20  10 AEFs (5 pairs)  4-month rotation  20-month AEF cycle * Some career fields are forced to use 6 month rotations Structure of an AEF During ‘Steady State’ battle rhythm the AEF provides predictability and stability to our troops and their families 13

 Band “A” 4 months/16 months  Band “B” 6 months/2 years  Band “C” 6 months/18 months  Band “D” 6 months/12 months  Band “E” 6 months/6 months Structure of an AEF 14

The AEF Cycle (‘Steady State’ Battle Rhythm) Normal Training Period Maintenance & Modifications, Composite Force Exercises, Inspections, etc. Site-specific Deployment Preparation Period 14 Months 2 Months Key to maintaining and sustaining combat capability Maintains a sustained high-level of readiness Facilitates better reconstitution / training Preserves predictability / stability Helps minimize retention impacts A 20-month CYCLE with one 4-month ROTATION CYCLE Employ Deployment Eligibility DEPLOYMENT Window 4 Months 15

Aerospace Units UNIT Regional Components NAF Theater Warfighting Commands MAJCOM Aerospace Expeditionary Units 10 AEFs -- A Total Force Solution ARC FORCES ACTIVE FORCES Air Force Organizational Structure… Total Force In Action…….. 16

AEF Comparison Joint Ops in Action 12 Carrier Strike Groups10 Divisions/28 Brigades 10 AEFs = 5 pairs 17

 2 Air Superiority Squadron (SQ)  4-6 Multi-Role Fighter SQ  Precision Guided Munitions (PGM)  Close Air Support (CAS)  Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD)  2 Bomb SQ  Conventional Air Launched Cruise Missile (CALCM)  Precision Guided Munition (PGM)  Maritime Operations  2 Theater Airlift SQ  2 Air Refueling SQ  Operations Support Aircraft (OSA), Low Density / High Demand (LD/HD) Aircraft  Expeditionary Combat Support (ECS)  Average # personnel in pair: 45,000  Average # aircraft in pair: 400 Typical AEF Composition Typical AEF Pair 18

Every Fighter and Bomber Squadron on-call or deployed days every 20 months…(exceptions like the stealth) 457 Ftr Sq 175th Ftr Sq SD ANG 94th Ftr Sq Langley AFB 93rd Ftr Sq Homestead AFR Precision Munitions 55th Ftr Sq Shaw AFB Air Def Suppression 466th Ftr Sq Hill AFB Precision Munitions 174th Ftr Sq Iowa ANG 457th Ftr Sq Fort Worth AFR Precision Munitions AEF 7th Bomb Wing Dyess AFB Aviation Alignment - AEF #8 19

Expeditionary Combat Support Alignment - AEF #8 93 FS GM ECS Contribution from 75 Active, 18 ANG, 11 AFRC Bases = AFRES= ANG = ACTIVE 20

20 Month Cycle AEF 1 & 2 AEF 3 & 4 AEF 5 & 6 AEF 7 & 8 Normal Training & Exercises Spin-up/ Deploy Prep AEF 9 & 10 Jan08 May 08 Sept 08 Jan 09 Sept 09 AEF Rotation Cycle 21

When We Are Successful Our Expeditionary Airmen Think light and lean Know their teammates Are truly “mission briefed” Have extensive job continuity Have families that are just as “ready” Have increased situational awareness (SA) Know how the AF works and where they fit in Know who’s in charge and where to get support Are self-sustaining or efficiently sustained via reachback Understand standardization makes them “plug and playable” Have access to, and are rated against, measures of success Operate in any environment and despite “fog and friction” of war, still accomplish the combat mission … that’s “expeditionary” 22

 Background, concept, and structure  AEF Transition began 1 Oct 99  AEF concept has and will evolve  AEF rotations allow us to:  Manage resources better and level playing field for deployments  Be responsive to Combatant Commander’s airpower needs  Take care of our people -- Predictability and Stability  Level the playing field for deployments  Max 120 days/year TDY still the AF goal  Some critically manned AFSC’s still heavily taxed  Everyone has a role to play in AEF…whether stateside or deployed…whether pilots, security forces, or cooks Take Away Points In Summary 23

MAJOR COMMANDs Combatant Commander Normal Training Period Maintenance & Modifications, Composite Force Exercises, Inspections, etc. 14 Months Preparation Period EMPLOY - On-Call - Deployed 4 Months - AOR Train - Deploy Prep 2 Months Trained to Task for the Warfighter AEF Rotation Cycle 24

 Do we / I support an AEF?  Which one?  When can I expect to deploy? Questions to Ask 25

AEF USAF REMEMBER “The Air Force’s first and most important task is to maintain a razor sharp focus on our primary mission – to Fly, Fight and Win.” 26 AEF 26

UNCLASSIFIED

Questions 28

 UCC Briefs  9/11 Nov Homework 29