HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- At Hurlburt Field, Florida, 21 warfighters from the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Air National Guard and U.S. Space Force recently completed the Air Force’s Command and Control Warrior Advanced Course, or C2WAC, which taught them how to integrate both kinetic and non-kinetic capabilities available to the Combined/Joint Force Air Component Commander, Nov. 9.
“This was the best operational planning course I’ve attended….I see this helping lay the foundation to my personal operational understanding to planning that will not only help me execute on an OPT [Operational Planning Team] at the AOC [Air Operations Center], on an A-Staff, but also help my understanding of the organizations involved so I know who to call upon for help,” U.S. Air Force Major William Piepenbring, liaison officer to Royal Air Force 11 Group and C2WAC 24-1 graduate.
C2WAC, taught by the 705th Training Squadron, is an advanced, multi-domain, integration course that trains air component headquarters personnel how to plan and execute air component operations at the operational level to meet Joint Force Commander requirements. The course uses the joint planning process for air and the joint air tasking cycle framework to steep students in the planning, integration, and execution responsibilities of the air component across the competition continuum at the operational level.
“Currently, I am standing up the Space Force's Cyber Range and as we deliver Large Force Exercise capabilities (like the scale of Red Flag) as well as integrate joint multi-domain assets, deliberate planning is critical at every level. As I move into other leadership positions within Delta 11, as well as force multiply now as an OPT lead within CO-IPE [Cyber Operations-Integrated Planning Elements] and JCC USSPACECOM [Joint Cyber Center U.S. Space Command]...all planned within the next year, I anticipate leveraging the knowledge I have gained here at C2WAC quite intimately,” said U.S. Space Force Capt. Eric Merriss, Delta 11 and C2WAC 24-1 graduate.
U.S. Space Force:
Capt. Eric Merriss, Delta 11
Mr. Billy Paney Jr., Joint Task Force-Space Defense/National Space Defense Center
U.S. Air Force:
Maj. Ryan Barker, 616th Operations Center
Maj. David Brown, 613th Air Operations Center
Capt. Megan Constantineau, 7th Air Force/A3A5
Capt. Philip Drum, 705th Training Squadron
Capt. Brett Dunning, 601st Air Operations Center
Maj. Brian Duque, Air Combat Command
Maj. Allison Easterly, 705th Training Squadron
Maj. Daniel Hann, 23rd Wing
Lt. Col. Peter Johnson, 7th Operations Support Squadron
Major Michael Kenny, 9th Air Force
Maj. Michael Langford, 616th Operations Center
Capt. Mary McCullers, 607th Air Operations Center
**Maj. Russell Neice, 608th Air Operations Center
Maj. James Page, 607th Air Operations Center
Maj. William Piepenbring, Royal Air Force 11 Group
Capt. Austin Weil, 549th Combat Training Squadron
Maj. Abel Wilson, 607th Air Support Operations Group
U.S. Air National Guard:
Capt. Bryon Adams, 1st Air Force
Lt. Col. Robert Esposito, 193rd Air Operations Group
**Distinguished Graduate
Successful completion of C2WAC supports designations as a U.S. Air Force Multi-Domain Warfare Planner and award of the “A-Prefix” Air Force Specialty Code for officers and a Multi-Domain Operations “M-Prefix” award for enlisted.