FEBRUARY 21, 2023 – The 505th Command and Control Wing’s 705th Training Squadron incorporated a Kessel Run application into the curriculum of their Lead Wing Command and Control Course, or LWC2C, this past January.
The LWC2C is an Air Combat Command lead wing leadership training course for distributed operations in support of Agile Combat Employment. ACE is a proactive and reactive operational scheme of maneuver executed within threat timelines to increase the survivability of forces while generating combat power through a deterrence continuum.
“The 505th is the lead ACC organization tasked to develop ACE C2 academics, mature the training environments, and integrate into existing exercise venues,” said Col. Adam Shelton, 505th Test and Training Group commander, Hurlburt Field, Florida. “An inherent task within this effort is to incorporate the primary decision tools required of operational wings to execute C2 of dispersed forces.”
The application added, C2IMERA, which stands for Command and Control Incident Management Emergency Response Application. It is an application focused on reporting, planning, force generation, emergency management, and command and control monitoring and execution.
“C2IMERA as the system of choice and the inclusion of this critical capability within our training portfolio is a no-brainer,” Shelton said. “As we continue to evolve and coalesce the development of both C2 training and C2IMERA technology, our hope is this partnership becomes a case study in successful implementation of DevSecOps [development, security and operations] for the service.”
The addition of C2IMERA is a sign of its further implementation across the Air Force. Its addition into the training is meant to explain the conceptual aspects of the application to Airmen and how to use it to plan at the wing level, according to Lt. Col. Benjamin Lee, 705th TRS director of operations.
“We are leveraging the exposure of Kessel Run’s C2IMERA training into TTPs [tactics, techniques and procedures] and ways to employ the training,” Lee said. “We are not teaching the button pushing of C2IMERA. We are teaching the concepts of the way C2IMERA could be used to facilitate information flow up to the operational level down to the wing level, and then down to the unit level.”
The application uses a common operating picture and dashboarding capabilities as communication tools, which consolidates and shares information for leaders, and boasts a plethora of features to provide C2 capabilities. These tools are customizable and optimized based on the individual needs of the installation and focus on updating and communicating data in real-time to give commanders a constant picture of their installations, environment, assets and personnel.
In 2021, ACC and Air Mobility Command both directed C2IMERA for use across their installations. Now, the application is used by 69 Air Force Installations and more than 100 forward operating bases across the world.
The 705th Training Squadron reports to the 505th Test and Training Group headquartered at Hurlburt Field, Florida. The 705th TRS serves as the focal point for advanced Air Operations Center and Air Force Forces education and C2 process improvement and trains ACC’s Lead Wing ACE concepts. The squadron educates and trains AOC and AFFOR staff members of Combatant and Numbered Air Force commanders, joint, and allied partners.
Kessel Run is a division within Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Digital Directorate. Kessel Run is an Agile Software Development unit building a scalable software factory to architect, manufacture and operate wing and operational-level C2 systems.
By Richard Blumenstein
Kessel Run Public Affairs