The 505th Test and Training Group’s (TTG) mission is to conduct premier testing, evaluation, training, and tactics development across command and control, sensors, and battle management weapons systems. The group’s vision is to ensure dominance in any domain by providing the best systems, training, and tactics to joint and coalition forces.
MISSION AREAS
Initial qualification training for all geographic and global air operation centers (AOC)
Intermediate and advanced training for Air Force Forces (AFFOR) & AOC staffs tailored operational command and control (C2) mission and continuation training for joint & coalition forces to include modeling and simulation and exercise control.
Deliver hands-on, operational level multi-domain command and control lessons learned to the joint force
ORGANIZATION
The 505 Test and Training Group is assigned to the 505th Command and Control Wing (CCW) at Hurlburt Field, Florida. The wing reports to the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center (USAFWC) at Nellis Air Force Base (AFB), Nevada, a direct reporting unit to the Air Combat Command (ACC). The group oversees operations of the 705th Training Squadron, 605th Test and Evaluation Squadron, and 505th Training Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Florida, and the 84th Radar Evaluation Squadron at Hill AFB, Utah.
The 705th Training Squadron (TRS) located on Hurlburt Field, Florida, serves as the focal point for advanced AOC and AFFOR education and C2 process improvement. The squadron educates and trains AOC and AFFOR staff members of Combatant and Numbered Air Force Commanders, joint, and allied partners. The squadron’s newest mission is to provide wing-level C2 training for Air Combat Command’s designated Agile Combat Employment (ACE) capable Lead Wings. Finally, the 705 TRS is charged as the USAF’s lead for Operational C2 Lessons Learned, tactics, techniques and produce (TTP) development, and process improvement.
The 605th Test and Evaluation Squadron (TES) located on Hurlburt Field, Florida, conducts operational tests, including cybersecurity assessments, as well as tactics development and evaluation of upgrades to systems. Cybersecurity assessments are intended to identify the capabilities, limitations, and vulnerabilities of the system in the presence of realistic threats. The 605 TES also provides support for developmental testing and various other major command (MAJCOM) and joint special projects. The squadron operates three detachments and one operating location.
The 505th Training Squadron (TRS) located on Hurlburt Field, Florida, is designated as the AOC Formal Training Unit (FTU) for the Department of Defense. The squadron executes 14 initial qualification courses for the AN/USQ-163 weapon system, awarding a basic qualification status to nearly 1,600 graduates over six iterations annually. The 505 TRS also offers the joint-certified Joint Air Operations Command and Control Course (JAOC2C), which is held four times per year and trains approximately 400 students and the Academic Instructor Course (AIC) held numerous times throughout the year as necessary. The squadron has one geographically separated operating location at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
The 84th Radar Evaluation Squadron (RADES) at Hill Air Force Base (AFB), Utah, monitors, evaluates, optimizes, and integrates fixed and mobile long-range radars for both the operational and federal communities. Additionally, the 84 RADES sets the standard for sensor coverage prediction and depiction. It also provides data analysis and unique radar forensics to support search and rescue missions and aircraft mishap investigations. Squadron members ensure that controllers have reliable and accurate sensor information for day-to-day operations, contingencies, and specialized activities such as counter-narcotics and search and rescue. The 84 RADES is a significant contributor to all facets of air detection, air sovereignty, and C2 armed with technical experts, cyber operators, radar maintainers, specially trained surveyors, and four operating locations (OL) at North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) Air Defense Sectors. In addition, the 84 RADES conducts radar obstruction analysis, including wind farm evaluations, radar coverage studies, and diagrams in support of the Federal Aviation Administration and other Department of Defense entities.
PERSONNEL
The 505 TTG has approximately 102 enlisted Airmen, 76 officers, 203 civilians, 81 contractors, and 3 foreign exchange officers/instructors assigned.
HISTORY
The 505th Test and Training Group is the only organization currently assigned to the wing that has roots reaching back to the Second World War. The 615th Technical School Squadron was constituted on 19 March and activated a week later on 26 March 1942 at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. At this time, Jefferson Barracks served as the primary Air Corps basic training center. The squadron moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, on 22 July 1942. The squadron was redesignated as the 615th Technical School Squadron on 4 January 1943 and received group status when it was redesignated as the 505th Training Group 18 days later on 22 January 1943. The 505th Training Group was disbanded on 30 April 1944. It remained in inactive status until it reconstituted almost 60-years later on 7 January 2004 and reactivated on 12 March 2004 when it was assigned to the 505th Command and Control Wing at Hurlburt Field, Florida. The 505th Training Group was redesignated as the 505th Test and Training Group on 1 August 2019.
505 CCW PUBLIC AFFAIRS
For more information about the 505th Test & Training Group’s mission, contact the 505 CCW Public Affairs office at 505CCW.PA.PublicAffairs@us.af.mil or call (850) 884-9476.
(Current as of December 2022)