Airmen from the 612th Air Operations Center and Air Communications Squadron deployed to Nellis Air Force Base evaluated a new approach to operational command and control in the field on May 5 to 16.
They were supported by the Air Force Joint Test Program Office.
The test measured the effectiveness of the Air Operations Center-Deployable team’s mission in a simulated deployed environment at the Shadow Operations Center-Nellis. The goal was to perform basic functions while producing, publishing and executing an air tasking order. Orders outline missions based on input from specialized divisions.
The team rapidly deploys commercially transportable equipment that operates on both military and commercial networks. The deployed teams do not have a parent organization’s resources, personnel and troubleshooting expertise.
“This was the first operational test of a commercial facing tactical extension of the Air Force Network on both secure and non-secure platforms,” Lt. Col. Brandon Koster, 612 ACOMS commander, said. “This allowed ACOMS to use any available commercial network path to include, wireless 5G/LTE, Starshield and traditional wired connections to extend the weapon system to the location of need in a secure manner.”
This approach can support up to 600 connections across multiple locations, according to Koster.