By Marc V. Schanz, Senior Editor

t was only two years ago that Eu- Russian military units erupted in eastern and “the cornerstone of our own security.” rope seemed an island of relative . European fears of a newly ag- He announced a new, billion-dollar, mul- calm in an increasingly dangerous gressive prompted the US to move tiyear European Reassurance Initiative. world. The US military’s presence quickly in support of its NATO allies, The ERI—a special fund for exercises on the continent was smaller than training and exercising with them from and cooperative activities with NATO Iat any point since the early , as the Baltic to . USAF units in allies—has supercharged Operation At- the Pentagon shifted resources toward have played a central role in the lantic Resolve, the umbrella program for more pressing needs in the Asia-Pacifi c reinforcement and reassurance mission. the US response to the Crimea crisis. and Middle East. President Barack Obama, visiting The measure provided some US war That all changed beginning in February Warsaw in June 2014, declared the US funding—known inside the Washington 2014, when Russian military forces in “commitment to ’s security, as Beltway as the overseas contingency disguise swept into Crimea, and a “hybrid well as the security of our allies in Central operations account—to pay for these war” waged by both irregular troops and and Eastern Europe,” to be “sacrosanct” noncombat assurance and deterrence 30 Magazine / September 2015 Photo by Ioannis Lekkas via USAF

Engagement and partnerships show USAFE-AFAFRICA’s solidarity with threatened allies.

Four F-15Cs based at RAF Lakenheath, UK, break formation. Lakenheath is due to receive F-35s in 2020. operations and military construction combined arms training to air policing to cal elements of America’s reassurance and infrastructure projects across the new heavy rotations in theater, plans. Speaking in June at the Paris Air continent. for the fi rst time in years. Show, Gorenc said the TSP units have These funds have enabled US-based Then, in late August, top Air Force been “out and about in Europe—training military units to rotate more rapidly to offi cials said the F-22 would soon make and exercising, creating opportunities Europe—and for longer stays. In January its fi rst deployment to Europe, to support for airmen and for our allies.” 2015, the Pentagon green-lighted Air combatant commander requirements. Since NATO waged its 1994 and 1999 Force theater security package (TSP) Gen. , head of US Air air campaigns in the Balkans—Opera- deployments to Europe to support and Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa, tions Deliberate Force and Allied Force, expand these activities. They range from said TSP rotations are one of the criti- respectively—US forces in Europe have AIR FORCE Magazine / September 2015 31 An A-10 approaches a KC-135 to receive fuel over Ramstein AB, . The A-10s deployed from Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., as part of a theater security package for Operation Atlantic Resolve, the umbrella program for the US response to the crisis

USAF photo by SrA. Damon Kasberg in Crimea. dwindled. Even as Operation Atlantic exercise in Europe. More routine rota- serves as the air component for US Resolve ramped up in January, the De- tions through the TSP and concepts like Africa Command tasks; 17th Air Force fense Department unveiled its European partnerships will was inactivated in 2012) and has just Infrastructure Consolidation (EIC) plan. have a “signifi cant” effect on readiness 23,000 permanently assigned Active The ERI will return 15 US military sites “over time,” he said. Duty airmen. across Europe to their host nations. These Only seven main operating bases include RAF Mildenhall in the UK, EXPANDED THEATER TRAINING and nine squadrons remain, where KC-135s and the 352nd Special The command’s responsibilities are comprising about 200 aircraft. Six Operations will shift to Germany different from what they were during are fi ghter squadrons that US Central by 2020. the Cold War, though, he noted. The Command can also tap to meet its force The Pentagon claims the EIC moves Ramstein AB, Germany-based organi- structure needs and must also rotate will save about $500 million a year— zation now oversees engagement and home for training. savings needed to stand up new theater operations in 104 countries, stretching The European Reassurance Initia- capabilities such as an F-35 unit at RAF from the Arctic Circle to sub-Saharan tive has fueled an expanded theater Lakenheath, UK, set to arrive in 2020. Africa. It must grapple with challenges training and engagement schedule for While some of these reductions will come as diverse as European ballistic missile USAFE-AFAFRICA’s combat forces from effi ciencies, better technology, and defense to meeting surveillance needs and “enabled us to fund a lot of these organizational tweaks, a smaller footprint for a pop-up crisis in Africa. USAFE- [new] excursions,” said Col. David C. means USAF must be more creative in AFAFRICA supported the July 2014 Trucksa, chief of the command’s train- how it deploys its available forces. evacuation of the US Embassy in , ing, readiness, and exercise division. From airfi elds in to train- Libya, for example. It has “really opened up our aperture.” ing exercises in Morocco, USAFE- With no permanent forces based in With ERI dollars, KC-135s supported AFAFRICA is fi nding new ways to Africa, managing the geography of training events in Germany and Roma- project power as it faces potential threats response is a never-ending planning nia during the summer and paid for ranging from resurgent Russia to terror challenge, Camerer said. Ramstein is TSP rotations in-theater to supplement groups in North Africa. 1,000 miles closer to West Africa than USAFE unit training. A-10s visiting The US and its allies “don’t want to forces assigned to Combined Joint Task Europe, for example, helped train the get caught fl at-footed” after the events Force-Horn of Africa in Djibouti, he said. 56th Rescue in full-up combat in Crimea, USAFE-AFAFRICA plans, During the 1990s, then-USAFE at RAF Lakenheath, programs, and analyses chief Brig. Gen. comprised four separate staffs to man- prior to the squadron’s CENTCOM Mark D. Camerer said, and so are amp- age operations in just Europe: USAFE deployment. The HH-60 crews would ing up readiness and interoperability headquarters, 3rd Air Force, 16th Air ordinarily have had to wait to go to a training. Force, and 17th Air Force. Its forces Red Flag or similiar stateside event to While TSPs have been sent to the Asia- were dispersed to 25 main operating get this training. Pacifi c for years, Camerer observed, the bases, with some 72,000 permanently By late June, the fi rst TSP rota- ERI allows them to return to Europe in stationed airmen and 800 aircraft as- tion—12 A-10s of the 354th Expedi- force, reanimating an exercise concept signed to 34 squadrons. Today, after tionary Fighter Squadron—had fl own from the last years of the Cold War. years of overseas basing cutbacks and some 1,138 sorties. They participated in “The [TSP] concept sort of goes back reorganization, USAFE-AFAFRICA 12 different events, ranging from joint to Checkered Flag,” Camerer said, in supports two combatant commands terminal attack controller training and reference to an old, regular rotational directly (17th Expeditionary Air Force certifi cation in Germany and Romania 32 AIR FORCE Magazine / September 2015 Lt. Gen. Darryl Roberson, then 3rd Air Force and 17th Expeditionary Air Force commander, speaks with Klaus Rodens, mayor of Spangdahlem, in February.

USAF photo by SrA. Gustavo Castillo to shorter events, such as Exercise F-15s from Louisiana, and NATO E-3 combat air forces than Ramstein Air Purple Windmill, a Dutch close air AWACS aircraft. Base or AB, . As these support exercise. These units experience diverse events continue, “we are trying to The second six-month TSP rota- conditions on these deployments. figure out” what capacities these in- tion saw F-15Cs dispatched from the From Bulgaria to Poland, many of stallations have, “so if we want to do Florida and Oregon Air National Guard. the forward locations where TSPs training or exercising in the future, As the 159th EFS, it went in April to operate “are not full bases,” said Lt. we know what we need to bring or to Leeuwarden AB, Netherlands, for Ex- Col. Bradley Brandt, chief of USAFE- put there,” Brandt said. ercise Frisian Flag. They then went to AFAFRICA’s operations and training The new operating environment de- Bulgaria for six weeks of training with branch. These facilities have a much mands more fl exible thinking about op- the Bulgarian air force, additional ANG smaller support infrastructure for erations support, according to Brig. Gen.

An Oregon ANG F-15C lands at Leeu- warden AB, Netherlands, in April. ANG units conducted training there, alongside NATO allies, to strengthen interoperability as part of Exercise Frisian Flag.

USAF photo by SSgt. Ryan Crane

34 AIR FORCE Magazine / September 2015 A Florida ANG F-15C peels off from a Bradley D. Spacy, USAFE-AFAFRICA’s formation near Leeuwarden. director of logistics, installations, and mission support. “We are smaller and in a lot of ways more efficient” than the USAFE of old, he said. “We support operations on a smaller scale, too,” with a smaller logistics footprint. “One way we do that is by helping with infrastructure,” Spacy said, using ERI funding as a “speedy mechanism” to bolster “proj- ects we have been wanting to get to for years.” Such projects are notably helpful in countries where USAF has limited operational experience, such as in the Baltic states. ERI funds contributed to 46 opera- tions and maintenance projects and 23 military construction projects across Europe in Fiscal 2015-16, he pointed out. Much of the infrastructure im- proved is owned and operated by allies. In Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania, for example, several projects are improv- ing airfields for all-weather conditions. Hangars, runways, and barrier systems for aircraft have been upgraded, and facilities have been built to store in- doors equipment that had been out in the elements. Bulk fuel locations are another priority, Spacy said, because “fuel is difficult to move; the more we can store forward the better.” Bulk storage facilities are also strategic

A French transport carrying US airmen and equipment taxis at Amari AB, Esto- nia, before a training exercise. USAF is working to improve airfields in Estonia so that they are able to operate in all weather conditions. Crane Ryan SSgt. by photo USAF

USAF photo by SSgt. Rusty Frank

assets in some countries, he added, as several nations remain highly dependent on Russian oil and gas. An essential element of engagement is building organic capabilities, such as firefighting, to support USAF and NATO air operations. After USAF logisticians, firemen, and security forces visit a lo- cation to build a project, then train the allied airmen in their skills, it lessens the size of the needed USAF logistics tail in the event of a crisis. “If we can teach [crash fire and rescue] like we do, … we don’t need to occupy those facilities,” Spacy said. The allies can then perform it to NATO standards, “and that’s a real skill.” All these efforts allow NATO forces to be dispersed at more bases, permit- ting a more swift and comprehensive AIR FORCE Magazine / September 2015 35 response to aggression. NATO aircraft we want to do these [events], to build from checklists to conducting “lessons “could land, be serviced by a host na- foundations, and limit those type of is- learned” assessments. tion, take off, and do their mission” in sues.” Understanding each other’s tactics Teams of civil engineers, logisticians, more places than before, he said. “All and procedures is the foundation for joint and security forces have fanned out this gets us closer to that.” coalition operations. across Europe since the ERI was initi- Though airmen in Europe have ated. They support operations with allied trained with NATO allies for decades, E R E militaries, improving semipermanent the post-Crimea engagement surge in As part of the Air Force’s cost-cutting, sites, and ensuring that when USAF Eastern Europe fosters two-way learn- force-shaping actions to reduce its foot- jets land at a foreign base, “they had the ing as well. Many of the countries where print in Europe two years ago, it pulled capacity to operate,” said Capt. Tanner USAF is sending assets and dispatching the A-10s of the at Smith, the director of operations for TSPs are former Warsaw Pact states. Spangdahlem AB, Germany, back to Spangdahlem’s 52nd Civil Engineering Their militaries are not only equipped Moody AFB, Ga. Squadron. As a result of these deploy- with far different technology, they train Col. Joseph D. McFall, commander of ments through the first half of 2015, the and organize much differently than do the 52nd, was its vice commander in June USAFE-AFAFRICA staff is “already US airmen, noted Brandt, who said, 2013, when the A-10s were withdrawn leaning on our experiences, on what we “That’s why it’s important for us to from Spangdahlem. want to do with these bases ... to get the go there.” “There was a limbo, and people won- best bang for the buck” in the future,” The Bulgarian air force flies the dered what was going to happen to the said Lt. Col. Chris Meeker, the 52nd MiG-29 Fulcrum, he said, and still future of the base,” he recalled. Things CES commander. S p tb 1 re r e

uses Soviet-era navigation aids. “We were different when he returned in Febru- SSgt. Cameron Hawkes, deployed from get to see each other’s capabilities,” he ary. “I roll back in and the [EIC] changes Davis-Monthan for Atlantic Resolve, said, noting that USAF F-15C aircrews are announced, ... and now we are the performs maintenance on an A-10 at RAF Lakenheath, UK. recently demonstrated how they debrief belly button for any TSP expedition.” training exercises with the P5 training The surge has required new think- Even as it conducts these engage- pod. It records flight data, simulated ing about how deployments work in ments, USAFE-AFAFRICA is adjusting weapons shots, and “kills” during live Europe, said Lt. Col. Matthew Higgins, its own structure, a big chunk of which air-to-air training. the deputy operations com- will bed down at Spangdahlem. As part At the same time, “we get to fly against mander of the of the EIC process, Spangdahlem will them” in training, seeing firsthand how at Spangdahlem. “We will own [some] give up its 606th Air Control Squadron MiG-29s in Bulgaria or MiG-21s in jets that will never land here,” he said. to Aviano and take on the Romania stack up in simulated combat. But crews will deploy and work with 352nd Special Operations Wing. This “A lot of this is honing skills and allies in new scenarios and challenge was surprising to some outside observ- predictability,” Brandt explained, such as themselves. “From a tactical perspec- ers, but Spangdahlem officials said the knowing what to do if an F-15C pilot gets tive, [if] we’re going to fight together, move was partly influenced by the heavy a radar spike, which might be a friendly we have to figure it out together,” Hig- investments made at the base over the MiG rather than a bad guy. “That’s why gins said. The things to practice range last decade. These include new clinics, AIR FORCE Magazine / September 2015 10 CV-22 Ospreys and 10 MC-130J Commando IIs. No one expects USAFE-AFAFRI- CA’s operating tempo to let up anytime soon. The theater security packages are just the fi rst phase of a deep en- gagement plan with European allies, Camerer asserted. Now that the fi rst USAF photo by SSgt. Joe W. McFadden W. Joe SSgt. by photo USAF round of upgrades is winding down, the command is looking at locations warranting further investments, such as hardened facilities and defensive capabilities. Partner nations are investing in new systems to increase interoperability with US forces in the next few years, as well. Romania, for example, purchased 12 surplus F-16s from the Portuguese, Brandt noted. This fall, Alabama ANG F-16s will deploy to Campia Turzii Air Base to conduct training and help Lt. Col. Steven Behmer prepares to taxi an A-10 deployed from Davis-Monthan at Campia Turzii, Romania. NATO allies, such as Romania, are investing in systems to familiarize Romanian airmen with F-16 increase interoperability with US forces. operations. There are more new opportunities schools, and base infrastructure—some allow the unit to better support opera- than there are logistical and operational $373 million worth of improvements tions across Europe and Africa alike. challenges, McFall observed. between 2004 and 2015, known as the The era of “one trick pony” bases is “For the last 14, 15 years, we’ve “northwest expansion.” USAF offi cials coming to an end, USAFE-AFAFRICA deployed to these massive bases [in have said one of the main reasons for planning offi cials observed. Milden- US Central Command], where we’ve divesting Mildenhall is the cost of nec- hall’s tankers will be parsed out to built up with manning and support,” essary updates to the base’s facilities. Spang dahlem and Aviano by 2020, pre- he said. Today, across Europe, a lean The buildup came as the base steadily serving USAF units’ ability to reach the expeditionary mindset is being tested lost iron to fl eet reorganizations. After European and African theater quickly. in response to threats few predicted losing the A-10s in 2013, only one just two years ago. fi ghter squadron remains at Spangdah- IF YOU BUILD IT “We are telling , lem, the F-16s of the 480th FS. From Utilities and groundwork get put in ‘Here’re your 250 folks for mainte- airfi eld space to hardened shelters, at Spangdahlem in 2017, followed by nance, operations, and supplies, go “now, we have signifi cant capacity,” new buildings a year later. By 2020, make it happen,’ ” McFall said. “It’s a Meeker stated. “We brought in an entire Meeker said, the plan is to have a new fantastic leadership opportunity, and it unit [from Mildenhall] for an exercise, aircraft apron, a refurbished runway, gets back a bit to the nature of what we and we had zero impact on F-16 op- support and maintenance hangars, were trying to do” in the Partnership erations,” he said. It was the available a wing headquarters, and a special for Peace era immediately after the room—plus the close relationship with tactics squadron facility complete, all Cold War—“small deployments, small the local German community—that built on or near places that used to host footprints, and the ability to get some prompted DOD to choose the base for A-10s or were underused. This new really things done with that, and the SOW’s new home. The move will infrastructure will eventually support that’s really cool.” ✪

A C-17 laden with equipment for the F-15C theater security package from the Florida and Louisiana Air National Guard units, touches down at Leeu- warden.

USAF photo by SSgt. Ryan Crane

AIR FORCE Magazine / September 2015 37