N
U S AF ph o t o b y S S g t . Z a c h a ry W o lf
U S AF ph o t o b y S S g t . J o e W . M c F a d d e n
ATO is in the early stages
of developing a “full slate
Chinese menu” of airpower
capabilities, said US Air
Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa
Commander Gen. Frank Gorenc in
February. This arsenal will be available to support NATO’s newly formed
Very High Readiness Joint Task Force
(VJTF) commander.
The task force was formed in part to
provide assurance to Eastern European
NATO states worried about Russia’s
continued aggression in Ukraine. It
is intended to serve as a “responsive,
ready, and fit” force that can quickly
respond to crises when they arise, said
Gorenc. Seven NATO members—Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland,
Romania, and Slovakia—were under
Soviet domination during the Cold
War and today share land borders with
either Russia or Ukraine.
The spearhead force, which NATO
ministers first agreed to during the 2014
Wales Summit and officially approved
in early February, will primarily be
made up of troops based in Germany,
the Netherlands, and Norway, although
U S AF ph o t o b y S rA. J o n a t h a n S t e f a n k o
38
A IR
F O R C E M a g a z i n e / April 2015
Bolstering
Europe
By Amy McCullough, News Editor
all 28 Alliance countries will contribute to the effort. Gorenc said NATO
officials are still trying to determine
exactly how the force will operate and
what it will look like.
VIVID REMINDER
Regardless of its makeup, the force
must be able to address the concept of
“hybrid warfare” that Russian President
Vladimir Putin has evoked in Crimea
and eastern Ukraine, “to introduce ambiguity into the situation,” said Gorenc.
“That ambiguity, I think, was designed
to take away the asymmetric advantage
that airpower brings.”
The continued buildup of Russian
forces in and around Ukraine serves as
a “vivid reminder” that the Air Force
needs to maintain a “very high level of
readiness” in Europe, said Gorenc. The
Fiscal 2016 budget provides just under
$1 billion for the European Reassurance
Initiative, which funds an increase in
NATO deployments meant to counter
Russia. Of that, the Air Force will get
“roughly” $300 million, to be used
to improve airfields in the Baltics,
Bulgaria, Poland, and Romania, said
Gorenc.
“In my NATO air command hat, what
we’re trying to do is really agnostic to
airframes,” he told Air Force Magazine
in a February interview at the Air Force
Association’s Air Warfare Symposium
in Orlando, Fla. “We’re trying to figure
out the exact air effects that the VJTF
would expect, ... but one thing that’s
pretty clear is, air will be a big part of it.”
“Those projects are modest, but [they
are] directly designed to be able to allow that airfield to support an increased
sortie generation capability, so we’re
very, very excited about that,” he said.
Top: Two A-10s taxi on the flight line at
Lajes Field, Azores, Portugal, in February. The A-10s are deployed as part
of the security package supporting
Operation Atlantic Resolve.
AIR FORCE Magazine / April 2015
The funding also will be used to
cover the operation and maintenance
cost “that will accommodate training”
as well as participation in NATO exercises. “That money was timely. That
money was ... focused, and that money
will allow us to contribute air into the
reassurance effort,” said Gorenc.
A big part of that reassurance effort
is the introduction of theater security
packages in Europe. Some 300 airmen
and 12 A-10 Warthogs from Davis-
Spangdahlem in far-western Germany
for their six-month rotation, they will
deploy several times to Eastern Europe
in support of “a whole string of exercises” that are part of Atlantic Resolve.
For example, the A-10s will support
a detachment of Army soldiers training
in Poland, as well as exercises in Bulgaria and Romania. The combination
of A-10s with ground forces requirements “is advantageous to everybody,”
said Gorenc.
USAF is moving to counter Russian
aggression and uncertainty.
Monthan AFB, Ariz., deployed to the
52nd Fighter Wing at Spangdahlem AB,
Germany, in mid-February, marking the
Air Force’s first European TSP.
The theater security package will
support Operation Atlantic Resolve—a
demonstration of the US’ commitment
to NATO and to maintaining security
in the region—conducting training
alongside NATO allies across Europe.
Although USAFE-AFAFRICA requested fighter support, not specifically
A-10s, for the first TSP, Gorenc said
the deployment is “a match made in
heaven.”
Now that combat operations have
ended in Afghanistan, many European
allies and partners are back home and
have joint terminal attack controllers who require training. Although
the Warthogs will be based out of
“The Air Force has been rotating
forces as a part of [Operation Atlantic Resolve] for the past year,” said
USAFE-AFAFRICA Vice Commander
Lt. Gen. Noel T. “Tom” Jones in a
release. “The TSP is another way the
Air Force is increasing [its] rotational
presence in Europe to reassure our allies
and partner nations that our commitment to European security is a priority.”
Gorenc said the command will continue to request fighter support through
TSPs to support Atlantic Resolve missions. Whether those rotations will be
back-to-back and what assets will be
made available is yet to be seen.
“I would imagine the emergence of
Russia and the way they are acting out
in the Ukraine will give it reasonable
priority, and I think we’ll be reasonably
successful,” he added.
J
Center: SSgt. Christopher Pridgen, a
crew chief, salutes an F-16 pilot on the
ramp at Souda AB, Greece. Greece is
a NATO partner nation in Operation
Atlantic Resolve.
Bottom: USAF and Estonian airmen
board a US C-130J for parachute training during Saber Strike, a multinational
exercise in the Baltics aimed at training for contingencies in NATO nations.
39