KUNSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea -- The readiness experts of the Wolf Pack are no strangers to exercises, and their battle rhythm continued during Beverly Pack 24-1, a readiness exercise designed to hone mission-ready capabilities, May 6-10.
To plan these exercises, the base relies on the intelligence white cell, led by the intel professionals under the 8th Operations Support Squadron. The white cell develops effective injects that provide realistic simulations of scenarios forcing units to test their response capabilities.
Before exercises like Bev Pack begin, commanders gather with their wing inspection team representatives and compile a list of desired exercise objectives. It then falls onto the white cell to ensure the created exercise scenarios meet as many of those objectives as possible.
“We work with the inspector general and WIT to develop scenarios,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Jonathan Roberts, 8th Fighter Wing senior intelligence officer. “We draw upon what would happen in a real-world scenario and we try to make the training scenarios as realistic as possible based on research and what we know might happen in a wartime scenario.”
As in a real-world scenario, unknown or unforeseen factors and challenges must be accounted for in a training environment.
“If the over-arching scenario isn't going to get after everything we want to evaluate, we have injects that can be put in that allow us to specifically evaluate things on an intel perspective,” said Tech. Sgt. Amanda Jackson, 8th OSS section chief of weapons & tactics. “When we see things are going off course or not getting after the desired exercise objectives, we’re able to veer it back on course to ensure that everyone is getting the training they need.”
The intelligence white cell must have a deep understanding of enemy capabilities to accurately develop injects. Therefore, when developing different scenarios, intelligence personnel must ask important questions such as “what is the enemy doing and what actions are they taking?”
“Our job is to know about the adversary, what they’re going to do and what they bring to the table to make sure we (8th FW) are prepared for it, said Jackson. “We need to be able to paint that picture on several different levels to make sure everyone understands why we are here and what the intent of the exercise is.”
The exercise research and planning of the intel flight only mirrors part of their in-depth daily operations, used to keep leadership alert of adversarial actions. The Wolf Pack’s readiness posture and ability to safeguard the base are key to ensuring peace and security on the peninsula.