MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- The Mosaic Tiger 24-1 exercise has come to a close at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, Nov. 17, 2023, further honing the 23rd Air Expeditionary Wing’s ability to generate airpower anytime, anywhere.
During the week-long exercise, the wing generated 60 sorties, distributed 135,512 pounds of cargo, forward deployed over 200 Airmen and accomplished 120 hours of successful training to test several Agile Combat Employment and Air Force Force Generation concepts.
Mosaic Tiger 24-1 spanned across three locations and challenged Airmen on expeditious basing, rapid-munitions loading for the A-10C Thunderbolt II, decontaminating aircrew and more. Moody Airmen had to push themselves to the limits on projecting power through contested environments and completing air tasking orders at disbursed locations while battling degraded communications.
“With so many concepts being tested, we really wanted to dial in on sustainability, security and communication,” said Lt. Col. Matthew Shelly, 23rd Wing chief of A-Staff. “These three things touched every learning objective we had and really allowed us to strengthen every part of the 23rd AEW team no matter where they were operating.”
While this exercise builds on several previous Mosaic Tiger iterations, no two are the same. With an ever-changing global competitive environment comes the need for changes in the way forces prepare to fight.
“We’ve spent a lot of time getting up to speed to be a Lead Wing, and in that time alone things have changed,” said Chief Master Sgt. Justin Geers, 23rd Wing command chief. “Now as an operational Lead Wing, this exercise allowed us to really get down to the nitty-gritty and focus on how to execute mission command while being comfortable and confident in letting our folks take and accept risks.”
Adopting mission command and accepting the higher risks associated with agile basing demonstrated the team’s ability to shift operations from a centralized physical organization to a network of smaller, detached locations enabling the disruption of adversary planning while providing more options for commanders.
However, despite the success of the exercise, it didn’t come without challenges.
“Like with every other exercise, there were things to learn from,” Geers said. “We were reminded not to forget the fundamentals — things like basic planning, accountability, weather challenges and simply communicating are all things that can go unnoticed until there’s a problem. Moving forward, we’ll be able to execute with a balance of keeping in mind the basics while also thinking outside the box.”
Mosaic Tiger 24-1 proved once again that the 23rd Wing is adaptable under unforeseen circumstances.
“These exercises are never meant to demonstrate perfection,” Shelly said. “Perfection doesn’t reflect capability or success … The ability to adapt, to be flexible, to overcome, and to accept risks, that’s what success looks like. Winning future conflicts requires malleability – it requires us to adjust at a moment’s notice, and Mosaic Tiger 24-1 showed that we are capable of exactly that.”