“Thrive in Chaos”: Dyess AFB chosen to host new national Air Task Force model

ABILENE, Texas ( KTAB/KRBC ) – Dyess Air Force Base(AFB) was chosen as one of 6 Bases in the country to pioneer the next step in Air Force training and preparedness.

Airmen of the recently formed 21st Air Task Force (ATF) were commended for their unwavering determination to the mission ahead at an assumption of command Ceremony on Tuesday. The 21st ATF and five other units path-find this new way forward, promising to shape the deployment model for airmen around the globe.

For the past two decades, airmen have been trained at a single base and then joined a unit of airmen from several other bases upon deployment. The ATF model, however, is a departure from this norm. It forms a unit before deployment, enabling airmen to train together as a deployable combat wing. Each ATF is prepared to deploy at a moment’s notice, having already established familiarity and trust, a crucial element of any unit, as highlighted by Lieutenant General Michael J. Lutton.

“There is no textbook on how to do this. Your team is going to write that book. Trust is a foundation for any organization for any unit to be effective in peace or combat. And you have an outstanding leader in chief and Colonel Walsh who will ensure your team operates with trust.” Lt. Gen. Lutton told the crowd.

Colonel Thomas A. “Fang” Walsh will command the 21st ATF. His task is to train and present the unit, which Dyess describes as “optimized for combat effectiveness in the era of Great Power Competition.”

“To the warfighters of the 21st Air Task Force. It’s an honor to be your commander. Our Nation is in a great power competition with the People’s Republic of China. The stakes of this competition are high. Over the next 18 months, we will embrace new methods of training and new technology, but only in the hands of Airmen; these Airmen will training and technology built on a foundation of trust will produce an advantage for our Nation.” Said Col. Walsh.

Currently about 20 in number but expected to grow, the men and women of the 21st ATF will be trained into a “cohesive fighting force, capable of adapting to dynamic combat environments” and ready to ship out wherever needed more quickly and efficiently than under the previous model of deployment. Col. Walsh referred to General James Mattis, after whom the unit’s motto, “Thrive in Chaos,” is inspired.

“In 2008, he laid out some of his warfighting tenants. All operating environments, he wrote, are dynamic with an infinite number of variables. The enemy is smart and adaptive; they defy prediction. The joint force must act in uncertainty and thrive in chaos, sensing opportunity and not retreating into needing more information. I intend for us to thrive in chaos.” Col. Walsh said.

Col. Walsh further stated that, as a “Path-finding” team, the 21st ATF would be expected to try, fail, and learn throughout their training to define how the program can best function going forward.

“Over the next 18 months, we will train hard. We will assemble a team of teams to experiment with new tactics, techniques, and procedures against an adversary that can and will contest every domain. We will make mistakes, and we will learn. We will blaze a path for others to follow. And we will go far together. So let’s go.” Said Col. Walsh.

The complete list of Bases chosen to host an ATF include:

• 11th ATF commanded by Col. Brett Cassidy at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona.
• 12th ATF commanded by Col. Gabriel Arrington At Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.
• 13th ATF commanded by Col. Benjamin Donberg at Joint Base, San Antonio, TX.
• 22nd ATF commanded by Col. William Watkins at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington.
• 21st ATF commanded by Col. Thomas A. “Fang” Walsh at Dyess Air Force Base, Abilene, TX.
• 23rd ATF commanded by Col. Bradley Baker at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina.

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