COMMENTARY >> Green Flag Little Rock and the 34th Combat Training Squadron

By By Lt. Col. Mike Zuber
34th Combat Training Squadron commander


As I walk around Little Rock AFB I still hear the question “34 CTS? What do you guys do?” This is my chance to tell you how we support Combat Airlift.

Green Flag Little Rock is the Mobility Air Forces contribution to the Joint Readiness Training Center exercise at Fort Polk, La. Our mission is unlike any other in Air Mobility Command. We provide the most realistic tactical level Joint Combat Employment Training in a low to medium intensity conflict, tailored to meet MAF needs!

Sounds great but what does that mean? Our objective is to provide a realistic combat simulation so airlift crews can experience their first five combat missions in a controlled training environment. GFLR exposes aircrews and planning staffs to a continuous, real time and increasingly intense combat environment.

The primary Air Mobility Command objective for JRTC is to provide a simulated combat environment with emphasis on joint force integration for the maximum number of airlift crews, mission planners and ground support elements. Emphasis is placed on providing training not normally available in a local training environment. MAF units and personnel train with Army brigade level units, 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers, normally light infantry, but may include mechanized infantry, cavalry or armor units, in a free play force on force combat environment. The 34 CTS is the executive agent integrating ground force units with air mobility squadrons operating out of Little Rock AFB.

I’m sure many of you have noticed some of our coalition partners flying out of Little Rock AFB and wondered why they’re here. In the last three years, the 34th has hosted more foreign participation than in the last 10 years combined. The issues of coalition operations, interfly and interoperability are being addressed and validated on a regular basis through GFLR exercises. The success of coalitions operations depends heavily on the understanding and integration of combat capability from participating nations. The integration of Canada, Britain, New Zealand, Australia and Germany into GFLR is allowing us to coordinate, plan and test every operational aspect of airlift mission execution in a simulated combat environment.

JRTC exercises foster a mindset of joint and coalition interoperability and communications. Green Flag Little Rock is to the airlift community and Combat Airlift what Red Flag is to the fighter community.