505th CCW supports Austere Challenge Published July 8, 2008 By Maj. Dean Blankenbeker 505th CTS HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- The 505th Command and Control Wing played an integral role in planning, developing, and controlling the exercise Austere Challenge 2008, which was the largest exercise and training event held by United States European Command since Atlantic Resolve in 1994. The purpose of this exercise was to certify EUCOM's Joint Task Force and Joint Forces Component Commanders, and to train other service component elements in the conduct of joint combat operations. AC 2008's focus was on a "Swiftly Defeat the Effort" campaign. The 505th CCW ensured high fidelity presentation of U.S. Air Force air, space and cyber capabilities through its professional control force that consists of white cells along with virtual and constructive modeling and simulation, known as the Air Warfare Simulation. This realistic presentation of air forces provides the joint and coalition training audiences with application, integration and synchronization scenarios, and allows both joint and coalition commanders the opportunity to direct forces countering an adversary, as might be expected in real-world contingency and major combat operations. The 505th CCW's PCF executed more than 12,000 simulated sorties during the 14-day exercise period with a 99.9 percent system reliability performance. The air exercise environment the 505th CCW provided, primarily through the use of AWSIM and its PCF, ensures the Air Force, sister services and coalition forces have an improved operational-level skill set prior to participating in actual combat and does it at a small fraction of the cost that an exercise using all live combat assets would require.