PACAF Chief: A more contested Indo-Pacific needs a new kind of exercise

I have been fortunate to serve in the United States Air Force for over 37 years, with a large portion of that time spent in multiple assignments across the Indo-Pacific theater. And while my experience is not necessarily unique, there is a bit of perspective that comes with longevity.

Since my first assignment in the Pacific in 1990, I’ve watched state actors across the Indo-Pacific become more advanced and more ambitious. Both the quality and quantity of their weapons continue to increase, and with that comes more dangerous behaviors, which are exhibited regularly. This critical and vast region — on which peace, stability, and global prosperity hinges — is becoming more turbulent and volatile.

The Indo-Pacific has always been important, but that importance grows each day. Which is why the Air Force is right now staging a complex, month-long exercise across the Indo-Pacific known as Resolute Force Pacific, or REFORPAC. We have to be prepared for what can happen in the most important sector of the world.

Today’s world is intricately entwined, with the Pacific at the heart of it: 60 percent of the world’s shipping goes through Pacific Ocean routes and 60 percent of all semiconductor chips are produced in Taiwan. The whole world benefits from — and are invested in — the byproducts of this region.

But China, North Korea, and Russia are all capable of presenting challenges to the United States and other Indo-Pacific nations that seek continued peace, stability, and prosperity. Beijing has undertaken an unprecedented buildup of its military arsenal — across all domains — and has shown a willingness to use that arsenal in pressure campaigns against Taiwan as well as allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region. Those campaigns range from subtle influence efforts to outright bullying and aggression. North Korea launches ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan with regularity, and Russia’s growing presence in the Pacific reminds the world that peace is not a given. Deterrence, rooted in credible combat capability, is paramount.

Which is why REFORPAC is now underway, in full alignment with US Indo-Pacific Command objectives, and its Joint Force sister services and allied forces. Virtually every element of the Air Force — fighter aircraft, bombers, tankers, transport planes, intelligence platforms, command and control personnel and logistics teams — has locked arms with the Space Force, Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and allied air forces in one of the largest, most complex air-centric exercise events in decades.

REFORPAC, which began on July 10, has featured around-the-clock air operations with nearly 400 aircraft across the INDOPACOM area of responsibility, many of those operating from austere airfields. The exercise refines our ability to rapidly deploy and sustain forces in a highly contested environment.

Unlike the Middle East, fighting an air war in the Pacific presents immense logistical and operational challenges due to the vast distances, refueling requirements, and resupply demands. REFORPAC has given us the opportunity to refine our tactics to test these concepts.

These operations demand agile communications networks and validate the trust we place in our young warfighters to make critical decisions, even when separated from higher echelons of command. The unprecedented speed and scale of REFORPAC is building confidence that we and our allies are prepared to prevail in any contingency.

Conflict is not inevitable, but maintaining peace requires constant diligence and forward progress to prevent it from being overtaken by threats. Deterrence is built upon a lethal Joint Force with strong alliances steeped in global experiences and characterized by discipline, ingenuity, and tenacity.

Deterrence demands that we stay ahead of potential aggressors. We do this every day, by advancing our strengths, our capabilities, and our unmatched partnership with others. But the REFORPAC exercise stands out as a demonstration of a strong commitment to peace through strength in the Indo-Pacific.

Gen. Kevin Schneider, a fighter pilot with more than 4,000 flight hours, including 530 in combat, is commander of U.S. Pacific Air Forces. He is responsible for Air Force activities spread over half the globe and for more than 46,000 Airmen serving principally in Japan, South Korea, Hawai’i, Alaska and Guam.