The Air Force Force Generation (AFFORGEN) model serves two key purposes: regaining readiness in preparation for high-end conflict and providing predictability for Airmen. It enables force modernization and ensures that Airmen are prepared for demanding missions. Within this model, the Air Task Force plays a crucial role. The ATF is a definable unit of action that delivers combat capabilities to the Joint Force as required. Put another way, while AFFORGEN describes the process for generating the force (the how), then the ATF represents the actual force we are generating (the what).

Air Task Forces are a step toward Combat Wings. AFFORGEN will be tailored to specific unit and command needs, but the unit of action and AFFORGEN model are designed to work together. The ATF is an interim step in the evolution to Combat Wings that transitions the Air Force from a 100% crowd-sourced deployment model, as we’ve done for the past 20 years, to a model where Airmen from a single wing who have trained together for 12 months deploy as one cohesive unit. This will enable the Air Force to provide more ready combat forces that can operate at the speed of trust and be ready to fight on day one in a hostile theater.

The Command Element will consist of the Commander, Deputy Commander, a Command Chief, First Seargeant and an expeditionary A-Staff. The Commander will be an operational group command candidate, selected from the same pool as base group and wing deputy commanders. The commanders were selected by the Air Force Chief of Staff. The ATF Deputy Commander will be a graduated squadron commander O-5. The Senior Enlisted Leader will be a Command Chief selected by the Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force. The selection of these key leaders will ensure diverse career field backgrounds and be platform agnostic for rated aviators. The ATF/CC, CD, CCC, CCF and select portions of the A-Staff will PCS or PCA to a host installation during the Reset phase and will PCS or PCA after the Available phase, completing a nominal two-year tour.

Airmen assigned to an Air Task Force will be in the AFFORGEN cycle. AFFORGEN establishes a 24-month rotational cycle broken into four, six-month phases: Prepare, Certify, Available and Reset. Airmen and units build readiness through the prepare and certify phases, deploy during the available phase and reintegrate and reconstitute during the reset phase. The reset phase is the period during which professional development opportunities should be scheduled. Professional development opportunities will continue to be determined through established enterprise processes.

Prior to Operation DESERT STORM, the Air Force’s deployable unit of action was the Wing. In that strategic environment, the Air Force organized, trained, and equipped entire wings to deploy and fight wars as a single unit. In the decades since then, the strategic environment has shifted significantly and we no longer organize, train, or equip entire wings to deploy as single Units of Action. The transition to the ATF model will allow us to organize, train, and equip force elements from different locations through the AFFORGEN cycle to form a single unit of action, despite persistent resourcing challenges not present prior to DESERT STORM. When combined with Agile Combat Employment tactics, A-Staff constructs, and a mission command approach to command and control, the ATF will provide a highly efficient, definable unit of action that delivers combat capabilities to the Joint Force as required.

The name Air Task Force (ATF) draws its historical lineage to Gen. George Kenney and the Air Task Forces he employed in the Southwest Pacific Theater during World War II. Gen. Kenney created ATFs provide task-organized units able to execute mission command across a broad theater with contested communications and logistics, like the strategic landscape the AirForce faces today. Additionally, the term was specifically selected to differentiate the warfighting unit of action from more recent terms such as AEW, AETF, AEF, or even “wing.”