Airmen from the 181st Security Forces Squadron conducted an agile combat employment and domestic response exercise at Muscatatuck Urban Training Center and Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center May 30-June 4.
ACE is the Air Force term to describe operating in modern, contested environments in forward-deployed environments.
The ACE concept relies less on large, traditional overseas bases as hubs for projecting combat power and more on launching, recovering and executing missions from dispersed, forward-operating locations.
“Security forces [personnel have] traditionally been associated with law enforcement-type taskings, but that skillset is shifting with the evolving threat environment,” said Air Force Senior Airman Adrian Storm, a combat arms instructor assigned to the 181st SFS.
However, there is a need for new approaches.
“Our traditional threats are changing,” said Storm. “We’re adjusting our mission and skill sets to meet the needs [of the military] in the modern threat environment.”
Security forces Airmen conducted door-to-door clearing and counter chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear all hazards management response (referred to as CAMR training). They also practiced forward operating base assault and defense reconnaissance, force-on-force engagement, night-vision operations, rotary wing aircraft infiltration and exfiltration, land navigation, ground-based defense, route clearance, urban environment training, riot control and active shooter scenarios.
“We don’t know the type of environment that we may be inserted into and working in,” said Storm. “We need to be able to understand how a joint tasking like that operates.”
The exercise included training in various environments and scenarios, including domestic response support unique to the National Guard.
“The Air National Guard has a civil disturbance responsibility,” said Air Force Maj. Joseph Williams, the commander of the 181st SFS. “The security forces squadron acts as an aid to civilian authorities in case there’s a civil disturbance that gets too big or out of hand.”
During the civil unrest training, security forces defended positions, detained identified aggravators, and operated in low-visibility and chemical-threat environments.
“It’s a hectic environment,” said Storm. “In order for us to be prepared for that sort of chaos that could ensue, we have to be as realistic in that training as possible.”
The 181st SFS needs to be ready to react at a moment’s notice.
“Our domestic operations skill set will always be an important part of our mission,” said Storm. “It’s important for us to be prepared at all times.”
