Air Force Academy’s ‘CULEX’ puts thousands of cadets through realistic 24-hour combat simulation

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado – The U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA) held its large-scale yearly "CULEX," oregon culminating grooming exercise, connected Thursday, giving cadets a realistic look astatine a combat scenario.

The 24-hour-a-day workout places astir 4,000 cadets successful a mock warfare setting, wherever upperclassmen pb analyzable missions and younger students travel orders. This year, it runs April 15–16. 

The Air Force Academy is 18,500 acres, nestled successful the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, but connected Thursday, the culminating workout script transformed USAFA into Hokkaido, a Japanese land nether onslaught by force forces.

"We've beauteous overmuch taken implicit the entirety of USAFA, to let each 4,000 of our cadets to person abstraction to run passim the exercise," said CULEX manager Col. Jennifer Hall.

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U.S. Air Force Academy cadets hike done the woods during tract exercise. (Amy Galo)

In the warfare scenario, Japan has asked the U.S. to travel successful arsenic a antiaircraft force. 

"In this scenario, we person 4 established airfields," Hall said. "And truthful that's what's established, the 4 associated operating areas that we person them in."

Each associated cognition area, oregon JOA, has astir 800 cadets, defending an airfield, 2 high-value assets and a downed airman. Cadets besides look real-world issues specified arsenic injured officers and invasions by force targets deemed the "Red Force."

Map displaying the 4 associated operating areas during the CULEX. (Amy Galo)

"We pulled retired 1 squadron to play Red Force," said Hall. "So our cadets are really playing Red Force, and they're retired determination successful the tract close present harassing our cadets. They're doing an astonishing job. They're ace excited."

Hall explained, "What we're trying to bash is person the cadets prioritize done decision-making. And you'll spot each crossed that Red Force is trying to complicate that to the champion of their ability."

While the concern whitethorn not beryllium real, it decidedly looks and feels similar it.

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"You'll spot astir 15 tents laid down arsenic an austere, expeditionary environment, 2 of which are tactical operations centers and a aesculapian structure and warming tent," Hall explained. "And past we person sleeping tents for the cadets, due to the fact that we volition beryllium remaining overnight for the archetypal time."

U.S. Air Force cadets connected the lookout for force targets during the culminating exercise. (Amy Galo)

Some cadets alert airplanes portion others deploy parachutes successful the sky. On the ground, hundreds of cadets equipped with aerial brushed guns support their camps, taking vigor postulation from troops nether attack. Meanwhile, students successful ngo power usage drones and mapping exertion to lick real-world problems.

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Air Force cadets enactment successful CULEX training. (Amy Galo)

"The lone mode to hole for the combat that we're in, oregon the aboriginal fight, is to make the grooming indispensable wherever they tin acquisition it existent time, successful the woods, successful the field," said Hall.

Now successful its 2nd year, the CULEX focuses connected gathering confidence, teamwork and enactment skills alternatively than investigating cadets with a pass-or-fail system. It's a multi-domain tactical workout designed to replicate the environments aboriginal Space Force and Air Force officers whitethorn encounter.

USAFA students survey a representation during their culminating exercise. (Amy Galo)

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"For our seniors, successful 44 days, they're going to graduate, and they're going to spell off, and they're going to beryllium officers successful our Space Force and Air Force— how overmuch much equipped they're going to beryllium to lead, to look analyzable problems, to cognize that they tin bash what's difficult," said Hall.