 In October, the 23rd Wing, along with partner wings, executed Operation Iron Thunder, a dynamic force-employment mission in the Pacific Theater. During this operation, the Flying Tigers deployed as a lead wing, designated as the 23rd Air Expeditionary Wing, to validate air combat command's ability to provide rapidly-deployable combat capability to combat commands. The 23rd Air Expeditionary Wing included attack aircraft, personal recovery task force, base defense squadron, mobility assets, an air base squadron, and command and control to conduct operations for over two weeks. The 23rd Air Expeditionary Wing stood up at Anderson Air Force Base in Guam, bringing forces together from over 8,000 miles apart. Within 24 hours of the start of the operation, the Flying Tigers opened an additional, enduring location, known as the Forward Operating Site in Palau, enabling sustained fighter, combat rescue, and mobility operations away from the main base. Throughout Iron Thunder, the Flying Tigers conducted simultaneous and coordinated operations from both locations. Over the next 10 days, the Flying Tigers operated with partners and from multiple contingency locations around the Pacific. The contingency locations enabled a rapid generation of fighter aircraft and expanded operations from mobility and rescue forces throughout the theater for short durations. These locations were operated by multi-cable airmen from the 23rd Wing's air base squadron, 93rd Air Ground Operations Wing, and contingency response airmen from the 36th Wing, integrating together under one command to get the mission done. While in theater, the Flying Tigers conducted advanced training over a 250,000 square mile area of operations, including bomber task force integration, partnering solutions for combat rescue, maritime surface warfare, operations from austere runways with deployable refueling, and execute contingency location combat turns while under simulated attack. We chose the 23rd Wing because we had a desire from PACAF to have a lead wing come out and work within the Agile Combat Employment Construct in IndoPACOM. It has really helped to have a lead wing here to carry out execution of this Agile Combat Employment event and that frees up space for the PACAF staff to focus on operations as a whole in the theater while the lead wing executes this specific operation. I think part of what these events have identified is just how we can think differently about the way that we execute logistics, how we can streamline what we're doing, the ways that we can either rely on expeditiously contracting something that we need as opposed to bringing it there via traditional airlift and operating outside of a mindset that we have been in with Central Command for the past 25 years, evolving to what IndoPACOM needs. Integrating with other assets is something we've always priored ourselves in. The close air support mission has always been detailed integration. It's just in close proximity to friendly troops on the ground. So now we're translating that detailed integration on the ground to in the air for strike packages and A-10 needs to remain dynamic and able to change the way we've done things in the past to stay relevant. The Bomber Task Force mission was for at least a men force of one B-1 and one A-10 from Guam to launch and execute the mold. So instead of carrying just weapons, we would carry these decoys and we would launch them and then the B-1s would guide them in on their flight profiles as they get closer to enemy territory and the enemy would target these decoys instead of the actual jets. We have the capability of landing at austere airfields or on dirt strips which we demonstrated with our FOS and CLs or contingency locations out to the west and then furthermore we're able to carry a lot of strike capabilities and not only execute that mission but then have loiter time and the gas to linger for additional mission sets. The crews were very willing and excited to integrate with us as well which was awesome to see that they are also willing to push the boundaries of what our aircraft are thought to be able to do and get ready for the next fight. We had a fixed wing jump team, six parachutemen who were prepared to jump into the ocean via parachute and rescue. We were really focused on the A-10 pilots that we were covering for this exercise but the problem then becomes how do you get back seeing what 30 can't pick you up out of the water. So we looked at civilian resources within our AOR there to come and pick us up utilizing those host nation assets in order to get us back to shore and then ultimately get that patient to the right level of care. Working with host nations is really important especially in Andopaycom because they understand that tropical environment. We can't be everywhere at once especially in that large of an AOR and because of that we are looking at the ability to utilize those host nations in order to affect those rescues. It's pretty neat to be able to see the ability of just a local fisherman we are able to utilize him and get right to where we need to go. We can't just rely on these small CLs always being in the most peaceful places. How do we deal with a contingency location where when you actually arrive you don't just get allowed by the adversary to do whatever you want at that airfield for however long. In this particular scenario what we exercised was coming in on a C-130 and conducted basically a combat landing and an engine running off load and then protected it as it departed the area. We have the ability to take one of the three base defense squadrons and plug them into the lead wing construct as a force attachment. So that gives any air expeditionary wing commander under the lead wing construct and in this case 23rd the ability to have its own pretty elite air based defense force to be able to attach and pair and tailor to any sort of level of threat the amount of fields that we need etc to just give you a flexible ability to protect our bases. In this case at Northwest Field we were able to simulate a contingency location we needed to open to service aircraft but was going to have a residual ground threat that we needed to deal with. So we were able to do air to ground integration and work through airmen who aren't JTAC qualified working in a combat situation we needed to have a good radio to get good effects on target and to use the A10s to freeze enemy movement while we operate that contingency location. One of the key elements in agile combat employment is working with partners and allies. During Operation Iron Thunder the Flying Tigers took every opportunity to engage with partners to conduct combined training and make infrastructure improvements from roads and operating site power generation to equipment repair and sustainment. Here's one example of a multi-cable airman who has increased their local capability. We established a memorandum of agreement between Palau International Airport Fire Department and then our wing coming out and then all future U.S. Air Force Firefighters that could potentially be out there for an expanded amount of time. We were able to provide them training on the A10s. It allowed us to gauge where their training was at and how we operated and able to show them what we do in the event of emergency. That was out of service and wasn't able to work due to a common turret problem that we actually have here. Our fire truck and refueler maintenance was actually there with us. He was able to break it apart and fix their turret on the spot. They had another truck with another issue and he was able to identify the part number and provide that for them so that they can get that truck fixed as well. We want to build a friendship and something that can last so the next guys that come into their... Firefighters or maybe the Marines will go there but it allows them to walk into a department and have the stage set for them as far as they're accepting of U.S. military personnel. They're going to work hard for them and they took care of them while we were out there. During Operation Iron Thunder the 23rd Wing proved that Air Combat Command's lead wing concept can rapidly deploy command and control as well as agile combat support to enable combat operations wherever they are needed. We remain ready to do it again anytime, anywhere, against any adversary. Ready to show the world Tiger's lead.