AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy — The 606th Air Control Squadron conducted Exercise Primo Specto 24-1 at Cellina Meduna, Italy, from July 15-19, 2024.

With the U.S. Air Force prioritizing a “Mission over Function” mindset designed to produce mission-ready Airman equipped for great power competition, the team at the 606th ACS is doing their part with field exercises like Primo Specto, which aligns with the Air Force vision and prepare individuals with the expertise and versatile skillsets required to win in various operational scenarios. Through innovation, they are forging new tactical command and control (C2) crew structures designed to increase survivability and enhance the air control they are called upon to provide.

The new crew structure is an agile combat employment-inspired initiative designed to drastically reduce the number of members needed to accomplish a specific mission as well as streamlining tactical decision-making by returning certain authorities to the absolute lowest possible level.

“We have captains going into the field and leading these crews, which is normally a job for a lieutenant colonel,” said U.S. Air Force Capt. Caleb Tolley, 606th ACS evaluator air battle manager. “By reducing the number of Airmen on each crew, our C2 teams are now more flexible and agile.”

Traditionally, a standard 606th ACS deployment requires of a minimum of 120 Airmen from four directorates to pack, transport, set-up and operate equipment that establishes a control and reporting center providing tactical air control from austere environments.

Under the 606th ACS’s new structure, only 26 Airmen needed to be in the field. With specialties ranging from cyber operations to power production, vehicle maintenance, surveillance and HVAC technicians, cross-leveling of skillsets and the mission-ready mentality is a legacy concept for this team that is getting an update.

“Our new structure is putting a huge emphasis on our young Airmen and noncommissioned officers who typically work on a specific piece of machinery and forcing them into a position where they have to teach and lead our lieutenants and captains who don’t necessarily have the same expertise they do,” said U.S. Air Force Capt. Colton Stott, 606th ACS air battle manager.

Even though the operational footprint has been reduced from more than 100 Airmen to only 26, the 606th ACS is still seeking additional methods to further scale that number down.

“Right now, all of our equipment is very heavy and takes several vehicles to transport, which leaves a large military footprint,” said Stott. “We are increasingly receiving new equipment and trying to develop new tactics and techniques to reduce our footprint so we can go to more places faster with less conspicuous vehicles instead of bringing an entire five-ton fleet.”

To fully realize the potential of the new crew structure, the 606th ACS plans to push the threshold by hosting Exercise Primo Specto quarterly, with each iteration having smaller crews.

“We are always getting new junior Airmen,” said Stott. “By doing this exercise on a regular basis and getting those repetitions in, it will allow our new troops to learn this new way of executing our mission while offering more opportunities to innovate additional means of optimizing our processes in addition to teaching other Airmen who are outside of their career field how they support the mission.”