Victory in the Face of Adversity: the 734 AMS practices mobility in other than optimal conditions

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Victoria Cowan
  • 734th Air Mobility Squadron
Andersen Air Force Base, Guam --  

To meet the demands of the fast-paced world where efficiency has become a vital key to any organization’s success, the U.S. Air Force has remodeled every system around time maximization and high production outcomes.

However, the 734th Air Mobility Squadron views efficiency as an easy target for an adversary, and an advantage that the unit could easily lose in near-peer combat.

“To operate at peak effectiveness the components of logistics are collocated to increase synergy and efficiency,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Michael Sadler, 734 AMS commander. “Collocation, however, presents a vulnerability for military operations. When logistics is the first priority, the optimal conditions have to be maneuverable.”

This practice of disaggregation, creating smaller, redundant, logistics teams, means the disruption of one team does not stop the mission while intentionally testing our Airmen’s ability to continue the fight in dispersed scenarios.

“Our Airmen located in Guam, sit well withing the Peoples Republic of China’s missile arsenal threat ring,” said Col. Jens Lyndrup, 515th Air Mobility Operations Wing commander. “The requirement remains the same for the Airmen despite the immense threat they face -- moving cargo pallets, troops and missions to the frontlines of the fight.”

This demands resilience over efficiency.

Disaggregation uses the AMOW’s global air mobility support system, by relocating a small team of Airmen called an Air Mobility Team, to different locations across the airfield to continue to execute the mobility missions.

The AMT moves to a location with the minimum number of people, roughly 12 Airmen, and equipment needed to receive an aircraft, download cargo, upload cargo, perform minor maintenance if needed, service the aircraft, and then send it back into the fight. The smaller footprint increases speed, agility, and unpredictability while maintaining a defined logistics capability.

“We have a talented, but young and inexperienced group of logistics professionals,” said Tech. Sgt. David Bussa, 734 AMS aircraft maintenance section chief. “There is no substitute for experience. Disaggregated operations exercise our younger Airmen and officers to increase their logistics acumen, situational awareness, and operational understanding before the conflict starts.”

Forcing the deliberate stress, lack of resources, and limited command and control on the node, demands decision making with the imperfect information and equipment available.

“Watching the Airmen execute in deliberate adversity, increases our confidence in the team’s ability to fight when the nation depends on us,” Sadler said. “We are no longer held at risk by one well placed PRC missile because our entire airfield is capable of delivering combat power.”

Disaggregated operations lower the adversary’s confidence that they can stop the logistics flow at Andersen Air Force Base without significant resource allocation. That confidence disruption is a Great Power Competition victory.

By disaggregating the 734 sacrifices efficiency, but it bolsters capability and reinforces a posture and mindset to execute the mission anytime, anywhere.