Following a 16-year run, Basic Expeditionary Airman Skills Training, or BEAST, has come to an end.
With an eye toward the future fight, Air Force basic military training is implementing a revised training exercise – PACER FROGE – where Agile Combat Employment and the concept of multi-capable Airmen are the beating heart.
Primary Agile Combat Employment Range, Forward Operations Readiness Generation Exercise, or PACER FORGE, is a fast-paced, two-day scenario-based deployment that mirrors the Air Force's force generation process and reinforces concepts introduced at BMT.
"The move toward PACER FORGE is not just a renaming or re-branding of BEAST," said Col. Jeff Pixley, 737th Training Group commander. "This was a year-long effort to reimagine BEAST."
BMT has had dedicated training days to instill the warrior mindset, initially called "Warrior Week," since 1999. In 2004, that training was expanded and in 2006, the four-day BEAST exercise stood up and had largely remained unchanged, until now.
Pixley assumed command of BMT in 2021, and assessed that BEAST was more centered around just-in-time pre-deployment training which led to the re-engineering and birth of PACER FORGE.
"The creation of the PACER FORGE program is an opportunity for students to prepare for their roles as multi-capable Airmen and for instructors to hone their leadership skills to mentor the new generation," he said.
PACER FORGE is executed in the sixth week of BMT. During a 36-hour window, military training instructors and trainees, will deploy to the former BEAST site where they will be organized into smaller dispersed teams. Here, they will be put to the test with scenarios that are built to provide flexibility, promote information seeking, teamwork, decision making and are results focused.
Pixley said the PACER FORGE curriculum is designed to enhance force packaging with teams tailored for mission generation, command and control, and base operating support functions to help meet the vision of the 2030 Enlisted Force Airman. It is also a change in that cadre are now in a mentorship and facilitation role, versus giving direction and instruction.
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