DM Airmen participate in Coyote Storm 26.2 to reinforce AEW 2.0 concepts
Coyote Storm 26.2 was a training exercise focused on improving flexibility and readiness through the Air Expeditionary Wing 2.0 concept. AEW 2.0 training requires that preparation for deployments happens long before members go into theater and ensures that they have the time to train together across disciplines.
The exercise involved every element of a wing, ensuring that all members, from aviators to medical personnel, built the resilience and teamwork to operate in a contested environment.
One member, U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Madison Cromer, 355th Operational Medical Readiness Squadron’s flight and operational medicine noncommissioned officer in charge, commented on how her job evolves in the deployed context.
“Medical care changes drastically in a contested environment,” said Cromer. “Our scope of practice widens in a deployed setting, meaning the care I would normally do in an outpatient setting at the clinic turns into emergency medicine and stabilization.”
Cromer also reflected on the importance of the Mission Ready Airman mindset and how AEW 2.0 training empowers it.
“During our time training with the AEW, our medical team has been able to connect with our patients and create rapport with our team,” said Cromer. “During CS 26.1at Tyndall [Air Force Base], I was able to train several security forces members on tactical combat casualty care and let them see firsthand how important their knowledge of life saving skills is.”
Cromer stated her unit historically has not trained non-medics in mass casualty events but in most cases, medics will not be the first members on scene when an event happens.
“It’s crucial that every single one of our AEW members can provide care on the spot so that we can save lives,” said Cromer.
Cromer went on to describe how she and her team have been working in various scenarios. She described making improvised tourniquets, ruggedizing IVs and even using patients’ clothing to stop bleeding or to make an impromptu sling.
“When in a contested environment, simple things become hard,” said Cromer. “It is so important that we are placed in simulated hostile environments to see how we will act as most people are unaware how they will respond when something bad happens.”
Cromer emphasized the old military adage “slow is smooth and smooth is fast” when it comes to medical care under fire.
“We practice our medical skills not until we can do it right, but until we can’t get it wrong, ensuring that our skills are muscle memory and we are able to save the lives of those around us,” said Cromer. “Our number one goal is to get our members back into the fight.”
U.S. Air Force Chaplain Mark Wagner, 355th Wing Staff Agency chaplain, also participated in CS 26.2 as a wing operations center member, practicing command and control concepts from afar. His position in the WOC allowed him to observe the combat search and rescue operations that took place throughout the exercise.
“Serving within the command and control environment gave me a clearer understanding of how commanders make decisions under pressure,” said Wagner. “It helped me align chaplain support with the operational tempo while ensuring service members had access to confidential care and spiritual support when it mattered most.”
Wagner, like Cromer, also talked about how his job adapts while down range.
“In a deployed environment, my role is to provide confidential pastoral care, strengthen resilience and ensure every service member, regardless of faith tradition or no faith tradition, has support when they need it,” Wagner said.
Wagner then clarified that support extends beyond individual counseling to the broader mission of sustaining unit morale and readiness across the deployed force.
“Chaplains operate wherever the force operates. We are here to listen, advise commanders on morale and spiritual readiness, and help service members navigate the pressures of deployment,” said Wagner.
Through realistic, mission-centered instruction, CS 26.2 enhanced the 355th Wing’s capacity to prepare deployment-ready Airmen with the proficiency, assurance and collaborative skills required to meet operational demands around the globe.
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