Exercise Valiant Shield wraps up with help from Barksdale

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  • By Staff and wire report
BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. --  Exercise Valiant Shield 2007, the largest exercise of its kind in the Pacific, wrapped up eight days of flying operations Aug.13.

Valiant Shield demonstrated the B-52's ability to integrate into a large-scale joint environment., explained Lt. Col. Tom Hesterman, 20th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron commander.

"The incredible might of the U.S. military sends a powerful message to our enemies that the U.S. can amass an unstoppable force at will," the colonel said. "The B-52 leading the way at the front of the formation symbolizes its role as one of the first assets to the fight, and its position of prominence in the Global War on Terrorism."

During the field training exercise, more than 2,900 sorties were flown, including 20th EBS B-52s flying a total of 18 missions.

B-52s, Navy F/A-18 Hornets and Hawker Hunters, along with F-16 Fighting Falcons flew more than 400 additional sorties as opposing forces during the exercise. This provided the friendly forces an opportunity to assess and practice their capabilities to counter a long-range threat against their naval forces, Colonel Hesterman added.

Other Air Force assets included F-15 Eagle, KC-135 stratotanker and E-3 Sentry aircraft, which flew defensive counter air, electronic attack, suppression of enemy air defense, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, aerial refueling, air interdiction, and antisurface warfare missions to support synchronized, joint operations in the vicinity of Guam.

"In an exercise such as Valiant Shield, 13th Air Force, as the Joint Forces Air Component commander, provides the command and control capability that allows a synchronized air effort with the surface and the sub-surface efforts, as well as space and other capabilities, into one campaign," said Lt. Gen. Loyd S. "Chip" Utterback, the Valiant Shield JFACC.
Colonel Hesterman agrees that command and control are very important.

"This concept is the link or glue that holds all the assets together to maintain a cohesive fighting force as opposed to a fragmented force with each doing something a little different," the squadron commander said. "It allows us to adjust to the changing conditions of the battlefield faster than our enemies, giving us a clear advantage."

Given the Herculean task to plan this large-scale event, exercise planners established specific training objectives that broadly defined enhanced joint warfighting integration and synchronization of forces at the tactical level.

"It is clear that to be successful in future conflicts, the services must work together within their area of expertise to provide the synergistic effect needed to triumph against our nation's foes," Colonel Hesterman added. "Maritime operations are especially important in the Pacific Command area of responsibility. We are constantly improving our capability to find, fix, track, target, engage and assess enemy assets across a large area."

The training location is ideal for a large-scale exercise like Valiant Shield. There is open airspace and open water, creating hundreds of miles of training area in each direction of the battle space. From a JFACC perspective, the ramp at Andersen AFB can accommodate a large number of aircraft and the support infrastructure there is strong.

"At the lowest level, my objective is for our Airmen, Sailors, and Soldiers to take away confidence in the joint capabilities they bring to the fight, to have confidence in their tactics, techniques and procedures, and to have confidence in the fact that we can bring all elements of the fight together," General Utter-back said. "What often gets missed in a big exercise like this, is the individual Airman and Sailor who's out there either below deck or in that hot, humid weather at Andersen fixing an engine on a 40-year-old B-52 or working on an F-16 or F-18. Those guys really make all of this come together."

The series of exercises focus on integrated joint training among U.S. military forces and enable real-world proficiency in sustaining joint forces and in detecting, locating, tracking and engaging units at sea, in the air, on land, and in cyberspace in response to range of mission areas.

This is the second year the United States has conducted Valiant Shield. The first was in June 2006. Several factors made this year's exercise more intense than last year's Valiant Shield.

"Forces, command and control elements, and additional units that didn't participate in last year's exercise created a more robust, energetic training opportunity this year," said Col. Tim Saffold, the lead exercise planner and 613th Air and Space Operations Center deputy commander.