Air Forces Africa officials test high-stress evacuation, operational abilities: "Members of 17th Air Force (Air Forces Africa) participated in their first in-house exercise since the unit stood up Oct. 1, 2008.
From Feb. 8 to 21, Exercise Objective Lens 2010 tested the unit's ability to plan for and execute a short-notice non-combatant evacuation operation in Africa. However, unlike the traditional exercises with gas masks and deployment lines, the 17th Air Force staff maintained a different focus for a different mission.
During the first week, the planning staff conducted Operational Planning Team meetings to identify a mission analysis, potential courses of action for response and force requirements to evacuate 8,000 people from a fictitious country. Week two put the approved plan into action and tested execution of the command and control capabilities of members of the 617th Air and Space Operation Center.
The exercise was designed to test how well members of the Air Forces Africa staff and 617th AOC transitioned from planning to execution since taking the lead over airspace within the combined joint operating area-Horn of Africa, said Lt. Col. Steven Hill, chief of the 17th Air Force exercise training division and lead planner of the exercise."
