621st CRW demonstrates wartime readiness during Force Generation training, Exercise UNIFIED DEVIL Published May 13, 2025 By Staff Sgt. Scott Warner 621st Contingency Response Wing TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- According to the Counsil on Foreign Relations, there are nearly 30 ongoing conflicts around the world as of today. With the rise in global conflicts, wartime preparedness is further stressed across the United States Department of Defense. ”Exercise UNIFIED DEVIL gave us the framework and ability to execute the largest force generation in our 20-year history.'' Col. Jason Herring, 621st CRW commander In order to be ready for anything, the 621st Contingency Response Wing, also known as the “Devil Raiders”, at both Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst and Travis Air Force Base, demonstrate its wartime readiness during Exercise UNIFIED DEVIL, the last big CR exercise before the Contingency Response Inspection and Exercise MOBILITY GUARDIAN. “The scale of future conflicts will be far beyond what anyone currently serving in the military has ever seen before during their career and will push every Airmen and all our resources to their limits,” Col. Jason Herring, 621st CRW commander said. “It’s vital that all Devil Raiders understand that we are not preparing for an inspection, but are instead ensuring the readiness of our warriors to explode into theater as one of our nation’s first combat forces into the fight.” Exercise UNIFIED DEVIL initially started planning back in March and finalized in a cumulative training exercise on both coasts, May 5-9. 621st CRW participates in Exercise UNIFIED DEVIL Airmen with the 921st Contingency Response Squadron move a MRZR during Exercise Unified Devil at Travis Air Force Base, California, May 6, 2025. For the exercise, the 621st Contingency Response Wing generated two separate aerial port-opening units in addition to 10 smaller mobility-support teams and four Air Advisor teams, an unprecedented capability in the United States Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Scott Warner) Photo Details / Download Hi-Res 621st CRW participates in Exercise UNIFIED DEVIL Senior Airman Justin Gibison, a 921st Contingency Response Squadron fire team member, buckles his seat belt during Exercise Unified Devil at Travis Air Force Base, California, May 6, 2025. For the exercise, the 621st Contingency Response Wing generated two separate aerial port-opening units in addition to 10 smaller mobility-support teams and four Air Advisor teams, an unprecedented capability in the United States Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Scott Warner) Photo Details / Download Hi-Res 621st CRW participates in Exercise UNIFIED DEVIL Senior Airman Andre Cardoso Tavares, a 921st Contingency Response Squadron aerial port mobility specialist, waits to drive his forklift during Exercise Unified Devil at Travis Air Force Base, California, May 6, 2025. For the exercise, the 621st Contingency Response Wing generated two separate aerial port-opening units in addition to 10 smaller mobility-support teams and four Air Advisor teams, an unprecedented capability in the United States Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Scott Warner) Photo Details / Download Hi-Res The units that participated within the 621st CRW were 11 squadrons, three groups and the Wing Staff Agencies at both installations. Additionally, the 60th Air Mobility Wing, 305th AMW and 87th Air Base Wing had participating personnel. In terms of scope, two Joint Task Force Port Opening elements, one Contingency Response Element and one Contingency Response Team were made from all the participating units, which included AMOS, MSAS and MSOS teams. Senior Airman Justin Gibson, a 921st Contingency Response Squadron fire team member, buckles his helmet during Exercise Unified Devil at Travis Air Force Base, California, May 6, 2025. For the exercise, the 621st Contingency Response Wing generated two separate aerial port-opening units in addition to 10 smaller mobility-support teams and four Air Advisor teams, an unprecedented capability in the United States Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Scott Warner) In totality, more than 1,600 personnel were recalled on both coasts and a large portion of those Airmen participated further in UNIFIED DEVIL, far greater than any other 621st CRW training exercise. “Exercise UNIFIED DEVIL gave us the framework and ability to execute the largest force generation in our 20-year history,” Herring emphasized. “Mobilizing units from across all four mission sets isn’t new to us. What is new for the Devil Raiders is mobilizing all four mission sets at the same time, and I had full confidence in our ability to embrace Mission Command and execute this challenging task, even on this large scope and scale.” Air Force Doctrine Publication 1-1 Mission Command has been an area of focus at all levels of USAF as of late. According to AFDP 1-1, “Mission Command is a philosophy of leadership that empowers Airmen to operate in uncertain, complex and rapidly changing environments through trust, shared awareness, and understanding of commander’s intent.” Air Force Doctrine Publication 1-1: Mission Command “The complexity of our mission sets, the level of joint integration required and our ability to adapt to changing environments requires us to digest and employ the Mission Command concept daily as we train and prepare to win any great power conflict,” Herring explained. In a March 14 memo authored by Herring to his squadron and group commanders, his commander’s intent for Exercise UNIFIED DEVIL was thoroughly explained, but the bottom line up front was “our Wing’s formal shift to preparing for the next big conflict starts now.” In accordance with AFDP 1-1, Herring enables decentralized execution by distributing control to his squadron and group commanders. He does this by initially explaining the “what” and “why” and then empowers their decision-making to execute, which enables flexibility, initiative and responsiveness in mission accomplishment. Meanwhile his subordinate commanders devise the “how” from a clear understanding of their commander’s intent. “Our team strategically balanced comprehensive readiness assessment against our commitment to maintain scheduled training and leave,” Lt. Col. Ryan Strength, 921st Contingency Response Squadron commander, said. “We implemented early risk identification during Pre-deployment Tasking Order (PTDO) operations, where squadron personnel immediately began building deployment increments upon notification. This proactive approach allowed us to identify capability gaps early and coordinate effective solutions before they impacted mission requirements. From understanding intent, squadron and group commanders must know how to operate using the main Mission Command principles, which are: accept prudent risks, build teams through mutual trust, exercise disciplined initiative and use mission-type orders when appropriate. Airmen with the 921st Contingency Response Squadron work together to move cargo during Exercise Unified Devil at Travis Air Force Base, California, May 6, 2025. For the exercise, the 621st Contingency Response Wing generated two separate aerial port-opening units in addition to 10 smaller mobility-support teams and four Air Advisor teams, an unprecedented capability in the United States Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Scott Warner) Strength explained that the primary risks involved would have temporarily redirected equipment from scheduled maintenance and reassigned personnel from official training to conduct a thorough readiness assessment. This could have created potential tradeoffs between immediate exercise needs and long-term readiness. The squadron managed those risks by carefully prioritizing which assets to redirect and by minimizing disruptions to critical maintenance schedules, training programs and personnel appointments, ensuring mission readiness remained intact. Mission Command originated in World War II when the allocation of air assets shifted from the practice of piece-meal “penny packeting” towards operations guided by the tenet of centralized control and decentralized execution. The fundamental truth that supported the shift to centralized control and decentralized execution remains true today: to fully capitalize on airpower’s advantages (i.e. speed, range, flexibility and lethality) while delegating authority to subordinate commanders and decision makers. Through the delegation of authority, shared understanding amongst squadron and group commanders is vital. “We established shared understanding by centralizing external coordination through the Contingency Response Support Squadron (CRSS), freeing squadron leaders to focus on internal operations,” Strength explained. “We implemented daily synchronization meetings representing all key stakeholders and reviewed exercise objectives, timeline updates and emerging challenges. Additionally, we developed an accessible common operating picture that ensured everyone understood their specific role in achieving our exercise objectives and overall mission success.” A 921st Contingency Response Squadron Airman performs a joint inspection on cargo during Exercise Unified Devil at Travis Air Force Base, California, May 6, 2025. For the exercise, the 621st Contingency Response Wing generated two separate aerial port-opening units in addition to 10 smaller mobility-support teams and four Air Advisor teams, an unprecedented capability in the United States Air Force.(U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Scott Warner) Strength stated that his unit fostered mutual trust through consistent and transparent communication across all squadron elements. “Our leadership team established clear communication channels, conducted regular status briefings and encouraged candid feedback at all levels,” Strength said. “This approach eliminated decision-making gaps and created a collaborative environment where team members felt confident sharing both concerns and solutions, strengthening our overall operational effectiveness.” This is how Mission Command should look like. In its simplest terms, it empowers decision-making at the lowest levels of authority and creates a bias towards action rather than people waiting to be told what to do. “Exercise Unified Devil was successful at applying enough pressure across the wing to force our command teams to evaluate and accept risk. The mass generation event created such a demand across the 621st Contingency Response Group that success was directly tied to all four of my squadrons working together to prioritize processing times and deconflicting our shared resources,” Col. John Foy, 621st CRG commander emphasized. “All of this was orchestrated through the initiative of our support squadron who runs the Deployment Execution Team process, provides oversight to the Unit Deployment Managers and is the focal point for the group to the numerous outside base agencies that we rely on to get out the door as quickly as possible.” 621st CRW participates in Exercise UNIFIED DEVIL Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey Rice, an aerial porter assigned to the 621st Contingency Response Squadron, organizes luggage for air transport during Exercise Unified Devil at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, May 6, 2025. For the exercise, the 621st Contingency Response Wing generated two separate aerial port-opening units in addition to 10 smaller mobility-support teams and four Air Advisor teams, an unprecedented capability in the United States Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Tristan McIntire) 621st CRW participates in Exercise UNIFIED DEVIL Senior Airman Michelle Ramirez-Cruz, an aerial porter with the 621st Contingency Response Support Squadron loads palletized cargo during Exercise Unified Devil at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, May 6, 2025. For the exercise, the 621st Contingency Response Wing generated two separate aerial port-opening units in addition to 10 smaller mobility-support teams and four Air Advisor teams, an unprecedented capability in the United States Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Tristan McIntire) 621st CRW participates in Exercise UNIFIED DEVIL Tech. Sgt. Lawford Soares, an aerial porter assigned to the 621st Contingency Response Squadron, inspects prepackaged cargo for air transportation during Exercise Unified Devil at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, May 6, 2025. For the exercise, the 621st Contingency Response Wing generated two separate aerial port-opening units in addition to 10 smaller mobility-support teams and four Air Advisor teams, an unprecedented capability in the United States Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Tristan McIntire) 621st CRW participates in Exercise UNIFIED DEVIL Airman 1st Class Andrii Oliinyk, a ground transportation specialist with the 87th Logistics Readiness Squadron, secures palletized cargo during Exercise Unified Devil at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, May 6, 2025. For the exercise, the 621st Contingency Response Wing generated two separate aerial port-opening units in addition to 10 smaller mobility-support teams and four Air Advisor teams, an unprecedented capability in the United States Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Tristan McIntire) While the main headquarters of Contingency Response operations is in New Jersey, group and squadrons stretching all the way to California demonstrated decentralized execution throughout Exercise UNIFIED DEVIL. “The true measure of success, as I see it, lies in how you respond when being tested, and you can choose to just get through it, or you can rise a little higher and focus on getting the best output possible,” Strength said. “In that regard, my team knocked it out of the park, and they rose to the challenge, doing so with great attitudes and a focus on the bigger picture. Their resilience and dedication continue to impress me, every single day.” As history has shown, the rapidity of actions generated by decentralized execution is the surest method to operate inside the enemy’s decision cycle, which is how the 621st Contingency Response Wing will demonstrate its wartime preparedness going forward. U.S. Air Force Logo