SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- The 932nd Airlift Wing conducted Phase 1, Generate Phase, of a two-part exercise, Spartan Reserve 2024, during their super unit training assembly November 2-5, 2023.
Phase 1 showcased the wing’s ability to mass deploy Airmen and cargo, with 25 percent sample size of the wing and every group, to include the wing staff agencies.
At the end of the exercise, the 932nd successfully executed a mass deployment process for over 250 Airmen and 1.4 short tons.
Maj. Vincent Semaan, 932nd Logistics Readiness Flight commander, was a player in the exercise as the reserve deployment officer.
“The Generation of forces phase of deployments has not been exercised to this scale in this wing in over a decade,” said Semaan. “In that time, many evolutions of this process and readying our Airmen has changed. With the commandant of the Air Force Reserve task order, the transition to the AFFORGEN (Air Force Force Generation) force posturing, and Ready Airmen Training (RAT) implementations, we were excited to gage the pulse of our efforts in training and equipping our Airmen.”
“932nd Airmen had an eye-opening experience to the ins and outs of deploying through heavily populated chalks on a processing line. The simulation of a real-world conflict with mass deploy-ability, while in the early months of the AFFORGEN prepare phase, created the necessary realism of Lt. Gen. Healy's strategic priorities of ‘Ready Now!’ and ‘Transforming for the future,’” he said. “Additionally, we were able to showcase our team's execution of Deployment Control Center (DCC), Personnel Deployment Function (PDF), Cargo Deployment Function (CDF) and Unit Deployment Control Center (UDCC) operations.”
Prior to the execution of Phase 1 the wing had to start with a plan.
Master Sgt. Adam Pollow, 932nd AW Inspector General office wing inspection team lead, collaborated with wing leaders for the course of 12 months to ensure ample time was allotted for successful generation evaluation, but he said the planning process accelerated in April prior to the exercise.
“As with any phase of readiness exercises, success hinges on the planning efforts of the team. I believe we had the right people in the right place to ensure this evaluation was a success, said Pollow. “At the end of the day it is all about providing the commanders in the 932nd AW with a clear sight picture of potential unit risks when it comes to readiness. The success of our readiness exercise owes much to the unwavering dedication and professionalism exhibited not only by our diligent planning team but also by the committed players.”
“The overall plan for the generate phase was simple--be able to provide combat ready Airmen to the downrange commander in a 72-hour time frame,” he said.
While the overall planning and execution of Phase 1 was intensive, 932nd Citizen Airmen walked away with a realistic understanding of the current mobilization process in the event of a worldwide contingency, which can unfold at any time.