Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom have afforded the U.S. military unique opportunities to open airfields under wartime conditions - missions that have become increasingly important as more overseas bases close down. These opportunities have demonstrated the global reach capabilities of U.S. airbase-opening forces and the ways in which regional commanders employ these forces to achieve mission goals. The experiences have proven particularly valuable for specialized, task-organized airbase-opening units, such as the Air Force's Contingency Response Groups (CRGs), built as 'first responders for opening airbases . . . that bridge the gap between the seizure forces and the follow-on combat/ expeditionary combat support forces.' As valuable as ongoing operations have been for exercising new airbase-opening structures and ideas, current theory remains focused specifically on opening airbases for fighter aircraft and other operations-centric missions already codified in doctrine. In addition, present discourse centers almost exclusively on U.S. unilateral base- opening efforts, rather than exploring the ways multinational partners combine to accomplish airbase-opening missions. Alexander M. Wathen stresses this latter point: 'Missing from the CRG concept of operations . . . and training plans is the construct of joining with our coalition partners throughout the globe. It is time to start thinking beyond 'jointness' and begin moving into the realm of coalition,' since recent history shows that unilateral U.S. action is becoming politically less viable.'.


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