AMC's new MAFFORGEN model
On 26 and 27 September 2022, Boeing C-17A transport aircraft and other elements of the 62nd Airlift Wing, based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (WA), deployed in support of US Central Command (USCENTCOM), US European Command (USEUCOM) and US Africa Command (USAFRICOM) operations. This deployment marked the first implementation of Air Mobility Command’s new Mobility Air Force Force Generation (MAFFORGEN) model.
The new MAFFORGEN model will build Air Mobility Command’s manpower, aircraft, and equipment into force elements that train, deploy, and recover as cohesive units throughout each phase of a cycle. The former model used a participation method that often meant deploying individual Airmen separate from their squadrons, on short notice.
In practice, aircraft and Airmen will be assigned to the 8th Expeditionary Air Mobility Squadron which is located as a tenant unit at Al Udeid Air Base (Qatar). The squadron is assigned to the 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing headquartered at Ramstein Air Base (Germany).
While most events are evaluated and validated within the MAFFORGEN model, which is in direct correlation with USAF's Agile Combat Employment (ACE) concept, the assigned unit(s) can go anywhere anytime in support of any geographic above named combatant command.
Within the new model are four distinct phases: reset, prepare, ready, and available to commit. The Airmen from JB Lewis-McChord's 62nd Airlift Wing, supported by Air Force Reserve Command's associated 446th Airlift Wing, have some forty C-17A's at their disposal that contribute to the rapid Air Mobility Command response.
Photo by USAF