Intergrated Air and Missile Intiial Qualification Training Course comes to 505th

505th Command and Control Wing

11/19/2012 -  HURLBURT FIELD, Fla.  – After years of need, discussion and planning, the future is here. On Nov. 5, the 505th Training Squadron, part of the 505th Training Group, and 505th Command and Control Wing, began teaching its first Air Operations Center Integrated Air and Missile Initial Qualification Training Course.

The course addresses the challenges of planning and synchronizing cross-combatant command IAMD operational command and control within an AOC. Upon completion of the course, students are certified as basic qualified in AOC weapon system IAMD planning and operations tasks and will return to their respective AOC able to integrate with, and articulate to, joint and coalition partners Air Force IAMD plans and operations.

The 505th TRS recognized the world-wide need to train operational-level integrated air and missile defense planners and operators, to include joint partners, to function with and within the command and control plans team and IAMD cell.

“As the air and missile threat from potential adversaries rapidly increases, we need to stay ahead of emerging rival capabilities across the globe,” said David Connelly, IAMD course manager of 505th TRS. “With the introduction of the IAMD course, our goal at the 505th is to train warfighters at the operational level of war in countering these dangerous weapons. Understanding the concept of integrating offensive and defensive capabilities between military services and across geographic areas of responsibility is a primary objective of the five day IAMD course. I would not be surprised to see this curriculum expand in depth and breadth over the coming months and years to keep pace with the opposition.”

The course has been in the making for almost a year, leveraging command and control expertise at the 505th TRS, AOCs across the world, and joint partners such as the Army’s Air Defense Artillery and the Fires Center of Excellence, the Navy’s Air and Missile Defense Command, and the Missile Defense Agency.

LTC Shana Peck, an Army Liaison Officer in the 505 TRS and one of the courses’ lead developers said, “Aggressive IAMD education and training is crucial in order to prepare warfighters to meet the expanded proliferation of potential adversary air and missile threats,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Shana Peck, an liaison officer IAMD is inherently joint and interdependent, relying on synchronized planning and execution processes amongst service components for global ballistic missile defense, cross-area of responsibility operations, and Coalition/Allied IAMD integration. This new rigorous five day Joint IAMD Course fosters unity of command and effort in meeting this mission set.”

The other lead developer, Chuck Charlton, an instructional systems design expert said, “This was an interesting course to develop from the ground up, especially with the limited documented joint tactics, techniques, and procedures available for this emerging mission.”

The commander of the 505 TRS, Lt. Col. Francisco Gallei, stated, “Nobody does operational-level command and control like the Air Force. It is one of the most critical functions we bring to the joint force, and combatant commanders expect it without question. With increasing threats and the complexity of air and missile defense, it was logical for us to create a course to plan and execute the IAMD mission from an AOC. I wish I would have had this training when I was assigned to an AOC.”

The 505 TRS is the Air Operations Center Formal Training Unit for the Air Force as well as joint and coalition partners. The unit teaches 15 initial qualification courses for the AOC weapon system, awarding nearly 1,400 graduates a basic qualification status. In addition, the squadron teaches the joint certified Joint Air Operations Command and Control Course (JAOC2C) to 400 students per year, ensuring complete transparency in the theater air planning process. It is comprised of C2 experts from across the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps active and reserve forces and government service employees.