Mosaic Tiger was used as a distributed operations stress check to simulate how the unit would function in a future high-end battle.
Train Mosaic Tiger 26-1, held Nov. 12–21, 2025 throughout a number of areas in Florida and Georgia, provided one of many clearest seems but at how the U.S. Air Drive expects its items to function beneath a future high-end battle. The occasion introduced completely different specialties from Moody AFB’s twenty third Wing for a ten-day analysis of their potential to generate, defend and maintain airpower whereas dispersed, resource-limited and, in some instances, reduce off from larger headquarters.
The Air Drive’s Agile Fight Employment (ACE) idea has been utilized throughout the train, with complicated and real looking situations. Because the service prepares for battle environments the place airbases, satellite tv for pc hyperlinks, and long-range logistics chains are focused early and sometimes, ACE emphasizes small, cellular, multi-capable groups able to conducting fight operations from areas with minimal infrastructure.
“That is greater than an train; it’s a demonstration of how we venture fight energy anytime, anyplace,” stated Col. Sean Corridor, 23d WG commander. “Regardless of disrupted communications, our Airmen are laser-focused on safety, sustainment and delivering airpower in help of the combatant commander’s intent.
Items just like the twenty third Wing are being requested to rehearse how they’d struggle with out the redundancy, predictability and infrastructure of conventional fundamental working bases. Mosaic Tiger 26-1 pushed these concepts additional than earlier iterations, introducing harsher logistics constraints, deeper communications degradation, a extra aggressive opposing power (OPFOR), and extra real looking integration of rescue and assault missions.
In actual fact, this yr’s iteration fused distributed airpower technology, personnel restoration, base protection, mission autonomy, upkeep improvisation, and multi-capable Airman (MCA) employment right into a single, cohesive train setting. This made the train notably extra demanding than earlier iterations.
Fight Air Base Squadron
The launch of the train was preceded by the activation of the twenty third Fight Air Base Squadron (CABS) throughout a ceremony on Sept. 15, 2025. The unit was on the heart of Mosaic Tiger 26-1.
“The Fight Air Base Squadron represents a whole shift in how the Air Drive prepares for deployments,” stated Lt. Col. Justin L. Could, twenty third CABS commander. “As an alternative of piecemeal groups thrown collectively, this squadron has educated collectively for the higher a part of a yr, constructing belief and refining processes so we will function at excessive tempo from day one.”
In actual fact, the CABS idea developed from expeditionary air base squadrons that supported contingency operations over the previous 20 years. In line with the service, the twenty third CABS consolidates greater than 60 Air Drive specialty codes into one cohesive unit accountable for base operations and sustainment in deployed environments, instantly supporting the brand new deployable fight wing mannequin.
“Each Airman within the squadron is tackling duties that usually wouldn’t fall of their wheelhouse,” stated Could initially of the train. “Whether or not it’s constructing plans, creating bodily coaching applications or creating skilled growth initiatives targeted on management and mission command. It’s an all-hands-on-deck effort, and no single particular person can take credit score for the whole lot that CABS has and can accomplish.”
The service additional stated that Moody’s various mission set made it a pure match to pioneer this effort, because of the twenty third Wing’s assault and rescue missions, the 93rd Air Floor Operations Wing and the 820th Base Protection Group all stationed on base.
ICTs & Distributed Ops
As a part of the train, Moody Airmen have been cut up into a number of areas: the principle working base, the ahead working website and a contingency location. Personnel loaded mission-essential cargo and boarded an HC-130J Fight King II to simulate a deployment to a contingency location on the Avon Park Air Drive Vary from Nov. 18 to twenty.
The simulated contingency location was designed to emphasize the rules of ACE. A small, 20-member detachment arrived there, securing the airfield, standing up communication hyperlinks and getting ready to work on plane with no assured resupply.
Making the situations tougher, a number of Alarm Crimson cases compelled the personnel to work with full fight gear and heightened alert standing. The crew carried out Built-in Fight Turns (ICTs), rearming and refueling plane concurrently, beneath situations meant to imitate the compressed timelines and restricted sources of a ahead island outpost.
“ICTs allow us to gas and rearm the jet on the similar time so it could get again within the air quicker,” stated Employees Sgt. Ryan Nisse, twenty third Logistics Readiness Squadron fuels specialist. “There’s no ready between steps. It retains the mission shifting. Working at Avon Park, or any contingency location, you perceive that what you may have is what you may have. It’s important to modify based mostly on the provides and tools you’ve acquired available.”
ICTs are a foundational a part of ACE as, regenerating plane quicker and with smaller groups, they cut back the time a jet sits susceptible on the bottom. This has apparent relevance for operations in any theater the place runways are scarce and adversaries can quickly goal predictable patterns.
Base Protection & Floor Patrols
Simulating deployed situations, the power safety was an integral a part of the train. A number of occasions examined the response of personnel to protect the safety on the train areas.
The Safety Forces Airmen from the 23d Fight Air Base Squadron carried out patrols within the train’s working space. Of their core position, SF Airmen have been accountable for establishing and sustaining cordons, detaining intruders, monitoring for unmanned aerial methods and figuring out potential improvised explosive gadgets.
At Tyndall AFB, the 822nd Base Protection Squadron (BDS) acted as a devoted OPFOR, and carried out a posh, multipronged assault on the A-Employees management and command and management node on the Fight Help Coaching Vary. This was the fruits of a number of days of probing and testing perimeter defenses by utilizing each drones and bodily surveillance, with a purpose to get a good suggestion of response instances and safety posture.
At dusk, an enemy drone operator piloted the machine in a sample over the command tent, aspiring to distract Airmen from the actual menace. In actual fact, the principle assault power was sneaking by the woods armed with computerized weapons and explosives, able to assault from a number of angles, hidden inside foliage or behind cowl.
“From the surface wanting in, it’d look chaotic, but it surely’s finely choreographed orchestra of pace and violence,” stated Chief Grasp Sgt. Patrick Meade, 23d CABS senior enlisted chief. “What occurred right here proves that our CABS idea is working. It doesn’t matter the job of the Airmen, in the case of set up protection, these CABS Airmen are going to win.”
The small footprint of safety forces members on the base was supported from the handfuls of CABS Airmen just lately educated on base-defense duties. Complicating the response, Lt. Col. Could, 23d CABS commander, was took out of the struggle by a simulated stray bullet, leaving the crew to complete the engagement with out instructions and counting on their coaching.
“We really had electricians flank the enemy utilizing a method you typically don’t see outdoors of safety forces,” Meade stated. “It was superb to see that the coaching from Silver Flag introduced the whole lot to a fruits level, and we have been in a position to execute and supply set up safety utilizing the mission-ready Airmen idea and mission command from the highest to the underside. Airmen 1st courses holding sectors was simply phenomenal to observe.”
This base protection was not confined to a single occasion. Different occasions additionally included simulated missile launches, drone incursions, unexploded ordnance discoveries, perimeter breaches and, final however not least, fuel contaminations, reacting to a 55-gallon drum that was thrown from the again of a truck contained in the MOB, spilling a chemical agent – the mustard fuel.
An “Alarm Crimson, MOPP 4” situation was referred to as, with MOB personnel persevering with to work on directing airpower within the simulated battle effort, whereas safety forces established a cordon and a hazardous materials crew arrived and started inspecting and figuring out the chemical make-up.
The bottom image was the clearest demonstration of ACE’s actuality: base protection is not the unique area of safety forces, it’s a part of the distributed mission set each Airman should help. This ensures the mission can maintain going with out interruptions and fight air energy is generated seamlessly.
Mission Era & Upkeep Challenges
The upkeep situations confirmed how the ACE idea stresses not solely {hardware}, but in addition the ingenuity of the crews accountable for retaining it flying. Maintainers from the 74th and seventy fifth Fighter Era Squadrons have been deliberately unfold throughout a number of areas, every advised to function as if resupply was unsure and communications intermittent.
This compelled them to undertake a survival mindset when dealing with instruments, elements and consumables. One of many clearest logistical constraints concerned oil administration.
“Being accountable for what provides we do have on website all leads again to making sure that we keep accountable and make the most of all sources obtainable,” stated Employees Sgt. William Flores, seventy fifth FGS crew chief. “Take oil for instance, if we’re burning an excessive amount of oil we might need to swap jets so we’re not utilizing extra oil then we will provide, and by doing that, we will keep air operations.”
These constraints have been constructed into the train to rehearse potential real-world challenges. In a Pacific state of affairs the place a distributed factor may lose resupply for days, each consumable turns into a mission-critical asset.
The choice to even re-use sure elements – one thing by no means accomplished beneath regular situations – was a part of this forcing operate. Whereas the Air Drive didn’t specify which elements have been re-used or life-extended, the observe was explicitly meant to duplicate the improvisation anticipated throughout extended isolation.
The maintainers’ adaptability was highlighted by management all through the occasion. This improvisational, degraded-resource expertise represents the actual maturation of ACE inside upkeep work, reshaped round flexibility, cross-training and a willingness to execute with out superb situations.
C2 Degradation & Autonomy
Probably the most vital dimensions of Mosaic Tiger 26-1 was its emphasis on Command and Management (C2) degradation. For a lot of Airmen, this was their first publicity to working for prolonged durations with out dependable steerage from larger headquarters.
Lt. Col. Nathan Frey, director of operations for the 74th Fighter Squadron, famous that items sometimes function from a 72-hour Air Tasking Order (ATO). In a degraded setting, as soon as these 72 hours expire, sorties can not depend on up to date tasking.
If communication blackout persists, items transition to a unique planning logic, as an alternative counting on the commander’s final recognized intent, pre-briefed mission units, and direct coordination with adjoining items. Right here, the twenty third Wing’s Mission Era Drive Aspect (MGFE) performed a central position.
In line with its commander, Lt. Col. David Pool, the MGFE acted as a connective node between dispersed items, sharing planning knowledge and sustaining restricted synchronization when larger higher-level C2 went down. This manner, the unit can proceed delivering combat-ready airpower even when the communication area turns into contested.
It is a crucial function of ACE that always receives much less consideration than logistic dispersal. The flexibility for wings or subordinate components to maintain operations autonomously – with out each day ATO updates, real-time intelligence, communications with larger instructions – represents a serious shift in how the Air Drive views tactical flexibility in a high-end struggle.
The place earlier workout routines merely included short-term communications outages, Mosaic Tiger 26-1 handled C2 degradation as a main state of affairs driver. In a contemporary contested setting, the place kinetic strikes and digital warfare would take out within the preliminary phases additionally communications methods and C2, Airmen should be ready to face sudden tasking gaps and proceed producing fight energy.
Personnel Restoration
The rescue group performed a considerable position in Mosaic Tiger 26-1 by Train PR Pulse, a long-range, open-ocean personnel restoration state of affairs executed on Nov. 19 within the Gulf of America. The 347th Rescue Group (RQG) educated with HH-60W Jolly Inexperienced II crews, HC-130J Fight King II crews and Guardian Angel groups to get better downed aircrew from rafts whereas a posh, multi-domain air operation unfolded overhead.
“Mosaic Tiger offers a strong menace setting and a believable road-to-war that helps aircrew cage their thoughts to the challenges of fight, together with an enemy that wishes to shoot you down, that forces detailed mission planning, integration with different U.S. platforms and capabilities, and adherence to our ways,” stated Lt. Col. Zachary Martin, 347th Operation Help Squadron commander. “Incomplete info requires crews to plan and execute contingencies and tactical challenges power crews to make laborious choices and tradeoffs.”
“Inside MT 26-1, PR Pulse particularly provides the mandatory elements for the thirty eighth, forty first and 71st Rescue Squadrons to coach in the direction of long-range, contested, and open-ocean personnel restoration (PR), together with planning merchandise, mission injects through a wide range of knowledge hyperlinks, and a tailor-made menace lay down that drives our aircrew to combine,” he continued.
Making issues extra real looking, the items practiced C2, sustainment and help capabilities by treating the group like a deployed Personnel Restoration Activity Drive (PRTF), full with standing updates, mission info, and plane reporting used downrange. This hands-on method lets the 347th RQG function as a deployed PRTF, integrating plane, personnel and intelligence in real looking, contested situations.
“For the train, we’re coaching the Rescue Triad (HH-60W Jolly Inexperienced II, Guardian Angel, and HC-130J Fight King II) in how we’d struggle by conducting long-range contested PR into the open ocean whereas an intensive air operation is occurring above us,” Martin stated. “The 347th OSS contains an intelligence and a weapons and ways flight who enabled PR Pulse by constructing an train state of affairs that features believable road-to-war with a attainable adversary, a strong air, maritime and floor menace laydown that displays adversary doctrine, ways, weapons methods, Air Tasking Orders, airspace constructs, and real looking missions for the forty first, 71st and thirty eighth RQSs to then prepare in opposition to.”
