Conga Lines Of USAF Airlifters Filled The Night Sky Across U.S. For Joint Forcible Entry Drill
The Air Force conducted its annual forcible entry drill. This is important because the US is now focused on peer-near pear combat as opposed to the low intensity insurgency warfare we have seen in the Middle East over the last ~2 decades.
The concept: the first group of aircraft are carrying paratroopers from either the 82nd Airborne or 75th Ranger Regiment, although it is more likely the 82nd as forcible entry is not really a Ranger mission any more. They have been shifted to USSOCOM (US Special Operations Command). They conduct a mass attack- a combat jump - and typically seize an airfield. Then follow on planes bring more troops (from the 82nd, 101st, or 10th Mountain) and all the supplies needed to sustain combat operations for an extended period of time. If feasible heavy armor arrives as soon as possible.
It's that time a year again! Air Mobility Command's airlifters have hit the skies en masse under the cover of night to fly across the U.S. and into the vast military training ranges in the American Southwest. The goal is to simulate prying open the enemy's back door and setting up combat shop on their lawn as part of an annual drill called Joint Forcible Entry Exercise (JFEX).
Our plane tracking friends started catching the peculiar streams of Air Force cargo aircraft popping up on their flight tracking software earlier in the evening. Within a short amount of time, it was clear that a major exercise was underway and the timing is perfect for this iteration of JFEX.
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Beyond being fantastic training for all involved, the exercise works as part of the capstone project for the graduating class of the U.S. Air Force's prestigious Weapons School. The soon to be minted Weapons Instructors (also called 'Target Arms' in some flying communities) put all their new and old knowledge to the test to successfully orchestrate what is among the most complex aerial combat ballets on the planet. You can read all about this exercise and how it fits into the Weapon's School's larger aims in this past article of ours.
In addition to tonight's mass migration of cargo haulers, the Nellis Test and Training Range has been very active over the last week or so as the Weapons School, which services all types of combat aircraft and their communities, enters into the final phase of its curriculum. The full gamut of surveillance aircraft, from RQ-4 Global Hawks to RC-135 Rivet Joints, have been tracked flying orbits around the range complex as the Weapons Instructors put their carefully evaluated war plans into motion.