MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The 226th Combat Communications Group, Alabama Air National Guard, conducted a large-scale contested environment exercise Sept. 5-8.
Copperhead Beacon 2024 is an expeditionary communications exercise built to simulate deploying units to support Agile Combat Employment training objectives by operating tactical/expeditionary communications capabilities in a global area of responsibility. The increased coordination between disparate Total Force units and the AFFOR Communications Coordination Center command entity is invaluable in preparing for the future fight.
The four-day exercise tested the ability of more than 20 Air National Guard, Active-Duty Air Force, and special operations communications units’ ability to coordinate and synchronize communications assets in and outside the continental United States, including Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Germany. The exercise simulated a contested environment to identify and address communication vulnerabilities in an increasingly competitive and complex operating environment.
“The lessons learned from this exercise will not only bolster our efficiencies as a tactical communications capability but provide a communications interoperability framework that can be refined to preserve critical expeditionary communications infrastructure in a near-peer/peer altercation,” said Master Sgt. Gordon Hallmark of the 226th Combat Communications Group. “We are able to conduct these joint training opportunities to best equip our units to work together, with a better understanding of any limitations and risks in a controlled environment.”
Effective communication in austere conditions can be critical to mission success. With evolving technology and potentially large theaters of operations, expeditionary communications units must ensure interoperability between legacy and new systems.
The exercise highlighted the critical role of combat communications in ensuring constant connectivity.
“We want our members to have the confidence to execute mission command in any scenario,” said Maj. Jason McKenzie, section chief for plans and resources, 226th Combat Communications Group.
McKenzie said the exercise was a realistic test of the unit’s ability to work together and ensure equipment functions in a contested environment.
“If we can win in the communications domain, our service members, the nation’s greatest asset, will be best equipped to make the defining difference in this era of great power competition,” he said.
The key focus areas included communication pathways, synchronization, and interoperability across multiple operating bases.