In the high deserts of New Mexico, under clear spring skies, the third iteration of Project Iron Agility unfolded at Holloman Air Force Base (AFB), marking another major step in the Air Force’s evolving approach to Agile Combat Employment (ACE). Held from March 13 to early April 2025, this three-week-long exercise blended cutting-edge simulations, enhanced MQ-9 Reaper-F-16 integration, and real-world logistics challenges to sharpen deployment readiness skills. As global threats become increasingly unpredictable, Holloman’s 49th Wing has been at the forefront of ensuring American airpower remains adaptable, flexible, and ready for the next fight.
First launched in August 2024 by the Air Education and Training Command (AETC), Project Iron Agility was initially a strategic training program designed to address “knowledge gaps” among maintenance crews, logisticians, and leadership. Its academic focus emphasized forecasting flying capabilities and managing personnel during contingency operations.
The debut version centered around the “Ignite” program, a week of intensive instruction where students absorbed fundamentals from the United States Air Force Advanced Maintenance and Munitions Operations School (AMMOS). Then came a culminating event: planning and executing a simulated F-16 deployment, teaching airmen how to project combat power rapidly and reliably.
Now, less than a year later, the program has matured into a robust, dynamic exercise. In 2025, it is no longer purely academic. The 49th Maintenance Group (MXG) has driven Iron Agility into realism, mirroring the chaos, complexity, and urgency of real-world conflict.
This year’s Project Iron Agility was deliberately structured into three rigorous phases: academic, planning, and execution.
The academic phase featured the Kingfish ACE simulation, a board game-like tool challenging participants to adapt to fluid battlefield conditions. By visualizing rapid asset reallocation and operational disruptions, airmen developed a deeper appreciation for the brutal pace of modern warfare. Kingfish forced participants to think critically about resource management, mission prioritization, and cross-functional teamwork.
In the planning phase, teams applied those lessons by building deployment plans based on minimal resources. The goal was “bare-bones deployment,” where success depended on collaboration across maintenance, logistics, fuel operations, and weapons loading.
Execution was the final crucible. Airmen faced “real-time injects” — surprise changes mimicking battlefield realities. Whether it was losing access to key airspace or adapting to degraded logistics chains, the exercise demanded rapid, collaborative decision-making under pressure. There was no script. Only adaptability ensured mission success.
A hallmark of this year’s Project Iron Agility was the deep integration of F-16 Fighting Falcons and MQ-9 Reapers, two distinctly different but complementary platforms.
Holloman AFB, home to the Air Force’s largest F-16 and MQ-9 Formal Training Units (FTUs), provided an ideal laboratory for such cross-platform synergy. For the first time in Iron Agility’s history, crews working on one airframe actively supported and learned from those assigned to the other. Maintainers who usually prepped Reapers found themselves assisting with F-16s, and vice versa.
“This fostered a culture of collaboration and strengthened the cross-functional nature of the team,” stated the 49th MXG. “It aligns perfectly with the ACE concept and highlights the importance of versatility in modern deployments.”
In the simulated deployment scenarios, MQ-9 Reapers were pulled from hangars and readied for flightline operations, while F-16Cs underwent maintenance checks, including preparations for night operations. Airmen quickly adapted to the unique needs of each platform, expanding their expertise and ensuring a smaller, more flexible support footprint.
“We’re planning for the smallest, most effective footprint,” explained Tech. Sgt. Dalis Harlan, 9th Aircraft Maintenance Unit specialist section chief. “This exercise combines skills from different Air Force Specialty Codes while streamlining responsibilities so we can adapt quickly if something goes wrong.”
While the F-16s are renowned for their speed and versatility, the MQ-9 Reaper is an ISR and strike powerhouse that brings flexibility without risking manned aircraft. Yet the Reaper wasn’t originally built for austere conditions.
Recent efforts have pushed the MQ-9’s boundaries. During Exercise Reaper Castillo in late 2024, a Reaper operated off a dirt strip at Melrose Air Force Range, serviced by a skeleton maintenance team while piloted remotely from Hurlburt Field, Florida. This milestone opened new possibilities for the drone in ACE scenarios.
Project Iron Agility capitalized on these lessons. The Reapers practiced rapid deployment from minimal facilities, offering critical intelligence and strike capabilities without depending on traditional airbase infrastructure.
“The MQ-9s are agile and can perform both ISR and Combat Air Support missions,” said Harlan. “They’re ideal partners for F-16s in ACE environments.”
While fighter jets and drones draw the spotlight, it was the logisticians, fuel handlers, and sustainers who kept Iron Agility moving.
Logistics teams built deployment packages, established communications with distant units, and solved supply chain challenges on the fly. Their work ensured that both F-16s and MQ-9s remained mission-capable even as injects disrupted original plans.
“Logistics plays a crucial role in ACE,” emphasized Tech. Sgt. Michale Smith, 49th Logistics Readiness Squadron fuel service center non-commissioned officer in charge. “We have to be able to operate in the middle of nowhere, with very little support.”
Smith underscored that Iron Agility demanded a “bare-bones” mentality. “Critical thinking, quick adaptation, and working with limited resources — that’s how we win.”
Global security dynamics demand that U.S. forces rethink traditional basing and operational models. In a potential future conflict, adversaries may target major airbases, degrade communications, and rapidly shift fronts. ACE is the Air Force’s answer: a way to remain lethal, mobile, and unpredictable.
Project Iron Agility embodies this philosophy. Its emphasis on unpredictability, rapid movement, and cross-functional training prepares airmen not just to survive but to thrive in such environments.
“One minute, we’re flying over a nation, and the next minute, we might not have that airspace anymore,” Harlan explained. “The ability to adapt, collaborate and execute quickly — that’s what Project Iron Agility is all about.”
Perhaps the most lasting impact of Project Iron Agility isn’t just tactical proficiency. It’s cultural change.
By forcing maintainers to become logisticians, and logisticians to think like operational planners, the exercise is breaking down stovepipes that often plague military organizations. It builds a new breed of Airman: versatile, critical-thinking, and ruthlessly adaptable.
This cultural shift is essential as the Air Force moves toward the “multi-capable Airman” concept, where personnel can perform a range of duties outside their primary specialty when needed. In future conflicts, this flexibility could spell the difference between mission success and failure.
Given its growing success, Project Iron Agility will likely continue to expand in scale and complexity. Future iterations may incorporate additional platforms like the F-35, involve joint forces from other services, or extend into cyber and space operations.
Already, interest from other wings and commands is rising. AETC officials hint at adapting the Iron Agility model for wider use across the Air Force, possibly as a blueprint for integrated ACE training.
For now, the Airmen of Holloman AFB can take pride. In the scorching sun and cold nights of New Mexico, they forged a new model for American airpower — one that is leaner, faster, and more lethal.
As threats evolve and adversaries become more sophisticated, so too must the forces that defend against them. Project Iron Agility proves that the U.S. Air Force is not standing still. It is accelerating.
