COMMENTARY>>The world’s best Total Force training

By Col. C.K. Hyde
314th Airlift Wing commander

One of the greatest strengths of our Air Force is the total force — the integration of active-duty, Reserve and Air National Guard components into the world’s best air, space and cyberspace force.

The Air Force is unique among the services in the fielding of total force capabilities which are always mission ready. We do not maintain mission-ready active-duty units and keep the Reserve components at a lower state of tiered readiness. The attributes of air power — its speed, global range, flexibility — and its ability to decisively engage from the onset of operations make it imperative that all Air Force components are able to execute their missions without significant spin-up time. Readiness is a unique source of strength for our total force.

Equal readiness has important advantages for the joint force. Combatant commanders have access to the full array of Air Force capabilities to meet current operations or emerging requirements without significant training delays. Air power’s global reach allows joint force commanders to combine capabilities at the point and time of need without regard to the component from which they come — active duty, reserve or Air National Guard. Total force readiness and interoperability are a reality due to common and consistent standards and training. Air Force capabilities are exceptional in that combatant commanders do not assign missions or request units based on their origin; the source of Air Force capabilities is transparent.

Combat delivery is perhaps the best example of total force capabilities and integration. Approximately 65 percent of C-130 forces reside in the Reserve component, and combat delivery requirements are met in overseas contingency operations by the seamless application of total force capabilities. I saw firsthand the deployment and integration of active, Reserve and Guard squadrons into an expeditionary group for combat operations in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Equal readiness, common procedures and superb training allowed this geographically diverse force to function as one even though the units hadn’t previously operated together. Their common traits were complimented by the strengths inherent in each component, which mitigated the weakness of the other units and resulted in a war-winning synergy that no other service or nation can match.

Training is the foundation of this total force capability, and nowhere is this more evident than in the world’s best training team at Little Rock AFB. Total force integration is in vogue, but the 314th Airlift Wing and the Arkansas Air National Guard’s 189th Airlift Wing have been Air Education and Training Command partners in combat delivery training for over two decades — we were total force before it became a buzzword. This partnership between both wings and the Aircrew Training System contractor has created an unmatched collection of combat delivery expertise, experience and innovation. The readiness and interoperability of our combat delivery forces can be traced to the synergy between the 314th and 189th Airlift Wings.

The same qualities which make the total force essential for Air Force success make our total force training team the foundation of combat delivery for the world’s best Air Force.