By WYATT OLSON | STARS AND STRIPES Published: January 26, 2021
F-35 and F-16 fighters will fly from an austere airfield “carved out of the jungle” in Guam during the Cope North exercise next month as part of the Air Force’s goal of deploying aircraft and airmen more broadly in the region.
The demonstration is part of ongoing efforts to integrate the Air Force’s agile combat employment concept, or ACE, into its combat operations, said Brig. Gen. Jeremy Sloane, commander of the 36th Wing at Guam’s Andersen Air Force Base, during an Air Force Association webinar Tuesday.
“The Air Force describes ACE as utilizing a hub-and-spoke network – permanent, well established hubs and more remote, austere spokes,” he said. Airmen are specially trained to rapidly “deploy, disperse and maneuver combat capability throughout the theater” under ACE.