AFCEC uses table top exercise to plan future big moves in RADR

  • Published
  • By Mekka Parish
  • AFCEC Public Affairs

The Air Force Civil Engineer Center’s Requirements, Research & Development and Acquisitions Division recently held a table top exercise to evaluate the access, mitigate and repair capabilities of the Rapid Airfield Damage Repair, or RADR, process.  RADR is the modernized process of how Airmen recover runways intentionally damaged by an attack.

The training, held at the Silver Flag Exercise site at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, also evaluated the interoperability of concepts of operations and key performance parameters for the new modernized repair process. 

“We are looking at the interactions, or the touch points, between the different groups to make sure the communications and assumptions the teams make about each other’s operations are correct,” said Chris High, requirements engineer in the requirements research & development and acquisitions division.

During the four-day exercise, AFCEC stakeholders, including members of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal and the expeditionary engineering divisions, worked alongside their colleagues with Pacific Air Forces and U.S. Central Command.

“This is the first time we have exercised this to this level; in other words, bringing multiple groups in under a realistic threat environment, on a realistic scenario, and having these groups work together on a table top,” said High.

“Being here for the table top exercise helps us integrate with the EOD team to identify those touch points where the crater repair teams and EOD teams need to work together at the tactical level,” said Senior Master Sgt. Richard Vaden, PACAF CE contingency planner.  “While they are in the mitigation process, it helps us prioritize the needs to enhance the repair operation.”

In addition to participants, the exercise included several data collectors responsible for documenting observations and inputs, and collecting raw data from teams involved in the table top.   According to the training team, all information collected will assist in determining the next iterations of RADR training and development.

“Certainly this helps steer our future efforts and will determine if we do need to develop a particular capability beyond where it is right now,” said Chief Master Sgt. Timothy Sterner, PACAF EOD manager. “Ultimately that helps the Air Force.  Bottom line, we have to get aircraft in the air and we are the first step to making that happen.”

From left, Master Sgt. Ryan Bobzin, Chief Master Sgt. Timothy Sterner and John Olive, Air Force Civil Engineer Center explosive ordnance disposal subject matter expert, focus on making theoretical decisions during a Rapid Airfield Damage Repair, RADR, table top exercise held at Silver Flag exercise site, Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. The exercise was designed to evaluate the access, mitigate and repair capabilities of the RADR process. (U.S. Air Force photo/Mekka Parish)