JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. -- It’s often said that the noncommissioned officer is the backbone of the U.S. Armed Forces. These experienced members of the enlisted corps are tasked with leading, mentoring, and guiding those assigned under their supervision. This is a profound responsibility that less than one percent of the nation is fulfilling or may fulfill. This means that the training the U.S. gives to its NCO corps must be as profound as their responsibilities are.
The Julius A. Kolb Airman Leadership School, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, is working diligently to answer that call. On Tuesday July 8, 2025, students from class 25-Echo engaged in the first ever Julius A. Kolb ALS field exercise. This exercise was intentionally planned from the beginning of the course to test class 25-E, the U.S. Air Force’s future NCOs, on the confidence, knowledge and wherewithal needed to lead in a contingency environment.
“25-Echo was one of the first classes to be exposed to security forces and civil engineering training, and they were not told when, where or how they would need to apply the skills that they learned during the course,” said Master Sgt. Jennylyn Cabanilla, Julius A. Kolb ALS commandant. “At the direction of the 62d Airlift Wing command chief, Chief KC, who wanted the Airmen to perform under pressure and with limited information, as well as Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force David Flossi’s mission-ready Airmen intent, we execute a culminating event on July 8, 2025, where our schoolhouse proved that we are taking the steps to prepare NCOs for the next fight.”
Class 25-E was comprised of 31 Airmen across Team McChord, including members of the 446th AW, and non-Team McChord members from the 439th AW, 173rd Fighter Wing, 119th Wing, 130th AW, 129th Rescue Wing. The class also had the honor of having a classmate from the U.S. Coast Guard.
During the course, class 25-E conducted training with the 627th Security Forces Squadron and the 627th Civil Engineering Squadron to further refine their skills as NCOs. The training with security forces included contingency environment perimeter patrol tactics in addition to shoot, move, communicate training to further prepare them for hostile situations where they could be expected to return fire at opposing forces. The training with the civil engineering squadron went over spall repair or the repair of broken flightline concrete patches and potholes. This instruction highlighted the differences between permanent, semi-permanent and expedient for the students. Permanent and semi-permanent repairs take the time to remove and clean broken concrete before pouring and leveling a new mix. Expedient repairs are done in high-risk scenarios (like incoming fire) where flightline potholes need to be filled and leveled for incoming aircraft as quickly as possible.
Both the security forces and civil engineering trainings would prove invaluable to students during the next phase of ALS.
“When we participated in the security forces and civil engineering training I was confused at first,” said Senior Airman Annastasia Martin, Julius A. Kolb ALS class 25-E student. “I was curious but also wondering how this would apply to my career field or help me to be a better NCO. Looking back, that uncertainty actually made me more engaged because I had to really focus and I couldn’t rely on my existing knowledge base.”
As a way of emphasizing mission-ready Airmen and preparing future NCOs for the real possibility of contingency operations, Cabanilla and her instructors planned a high-impact field exercise for the class. This exercise was designed purposefully to put Airmen in a high-pressure environment where they may be asked to perform outside their regular job functions. This included testing the class’s prior training, testing their team building, problem solving and critical thinking skills in a real-world crisis environment, and testing their ability to come together and represent a lethal NCO corps with a strong warfighter ethos.
On Tuesday, July 8, students of class 25-E were told they would be continuing flightline spall repair training, but this training quickly unfolded into a full-scale exercise as a simulated airstrike occurred near their positions. This was no longer a learning environment, it was now a simulated battle of wits, courage, determination, and clarity.
Throughout the following hours, the students were split into three teams with each taking on a different challenge before rotating. Although the challenges were ones the class had been trained on, the ALS instructors hadn’t told students about the injects (simulated obstacles and events) they had planned. While one team of students continued to repair the flightline under increasing pressure and simulated fire, another team attempted to secure the perimeter of Base X (the exercise’s simulated contingency location) utilizing their shoot, move, communicate training from earlier in the school. Finally, the third team was tasked with conducting unexploded ordinance sweeps throughout a specified area on the simulated base. Each team worked to command the chaos as they executed their training under incredible pressure and strain. Several of the injects that the students encountered included injuries, deaths, degraded communication systems, simulated panic attacks, and equipment failures.
“The exercise simulated a realistic scenario where we had to keep our aircraft operational after indirect fire damage, working with an unfamiliar small team to rapidly repair the runway,” said Staff Sgt. Richard Calderon, Julius A. Kolb ALS class 25-E student. “This combination of technical challenges, leadership responsibilities, and time pressure under realistic combat conditions really tested our adaptability and teamwork skills. It was an excellent way to integrate multiple real-world scenarios that pushed us beyond our comfort zones.”
After the end of the exercise the students, the instructors, the safety observers, and other non-players conducted a thorough after action report where students were able to give each other feedback and receive feedback from all participants about their successes and opportunities for improvements during the exercise. The lessons learned by the students and instructors alike are sure to prove invaluable in future exercises, leadership roles, and beyond.
“Real-world, high-pressure contingency training like the field exercise for Class 25-E is absolutely critical for developing effective NCOs for several key reasons including effective decision-making under stress, establishing clear trust and credibility, putting valuable theory to practice, identifying fundamental gaps, and strengthening essential team cohesion,” said Chief Master Sgt. Kristy Korchak-Campbell, 62d Airlift Wing command chief. “What we do is a team sport – we play together, we fight together, and we will win together.”
This exercise, planned, coordinated, and conducted by the Julius A. Kolb ALS, demonstrates that future conflicts will demand more from NCOs. They will require greater critical thinking, maneuverability, leadership, and willpower. Because of training like this, Air Force NCOs will be ready to meet the challenge when the time comes to put their abilities to the test.