Warfighting Readiness: Crows exercise spectrum dominance through Rapid Raven 24-2

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  • By Senior Airman Anna Smith
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  The 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing recently conducted its second internal exercise, Rapid Raven 24-2, testing the wing’s ability to quickly adapt to changing operational environments and threats while in a warfighting posture.

The exercise, held from Oct. 21-23 at the wing, involved personnel from every unit engaging in realistic scenarios designed to test and improve tactics, techniques and procedures that support the wing’s three mission essential functions of Electromagnetic Warfare (EW) reprogramming optimization, Electromagnetic Spectrum (EMS) effectiveness assessment and target and waveform development.

The first iteration of Rapid Raven, which occurred in March of this year, focused not only on rapidly reprogramming EW systems with updated Mission Data Files (MDFs), which are used in Combat Air Forces aircraft, but also how the wing could command, control and assess a first-of-its kind exercise.

“Earlier this year, our main focus area was the speed and quality at which we could reprogram MDFs,” said Dylan Duplechain, 350 SWW chief engineer. “However, there is much more to the fight than speed and quality. We must test our ability to understand and react to a constantly changing, complex, and contested environment.”

In modern battle, both blue and red forces are projected to continuously adapt and react to each other’s Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations, driving a need for quick action by the 350 SWW to provide warfighters with the right capability to overcome adversarial challenges.

“With Rapid Raven 24-2, we practiced as if we were supporting operations where things are constantly changing,” said Duplechain. “We operated completely in an emergency support posture.”

The exercise simulated 24-hour operations, beginning with the 350 SWW EW Help Desk receiving an emergency request for updated, or reprogrammed, MDFs. The EW Help Desk then linked distributed information throughout the wing.

“When we receive an emergency operational change request, within five to 10 minutes we have that alert pushed out to the appropriate unit,” said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Sawyer Maxwell, 39th Electronic Warfare Squadron multi-service data distribution system noncommissioned officer in charge. “How fast that unit can reprogram the file and send it back out is variable and what we are practicing in Rapid Raven, but minutes matter and lives are on the line.”

Rapid Raven 24-2 not only exercised on operating at the speed of relevance, but also incorporated a large rapidly changing electromagnetic operating environment, driving more changes than the exercises’ previous iteration in the same time frame, pushing the Crows to test their procedures and learn what works and what can be improved to better support the warfighter.

"This iteration of Rapid Raven, we ramped up the amount of electromagnetic operating environment changes to better replicate a realistic training environment," said Lt. Col. Matthew Culbertson, 350 SWW special projects officer. "During a wartime scenario, we would be receiving a multitude of requests from several combatant commands at once, and we need to train to meet that demand."

“Taking this exercise seriously is essential for our operating readiness,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Larry Fenner Jr., 350 SWW commander. “Rapid Raven allows us to strengthen our capabilities in EW, enhance inter-unit collaboration, and ensure we can effectively counter evolving threats in the Spectrum to meet combatant commander objectives.”

Exercises like Rapid Raven not only enhance the readiness of the 350 SWW, but also contribute to the broader mission of the Air Force in maintaining superiority in the increasingly contested operational environment. The lessons learned will be instrumental in shaping the wing’s strategies and operational effectiveness moving forward.

“We’re not just keeping pace with the pacing challenge; we are setting the standard for what it means to dominate the Spectrum and win,” said Fenner. “Through Rapid Raven, our team has demonstrated resilience and ingenuity, pushing the boundaries of our electronic warfare capabilities.”