ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- More than 500 military personnel from across the Air Force, joint services, NATO allies and operational mission partners mobilized at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, for the 2025 XCOMM Roundup, an exercise designed to strengthen expeditionary communications capabilities in contested environments.
The overarching theme of this year’s XCOMM was collaboration over competition.
"It's a huge exercise. We have 38 units and over 500 personnel that are partaking in it in various locations," said Col. Jennifer Carns, the 5th Combat Communications Group commander with the 461st Air Control Wing. "The goal is to collaborate and share those ideas, tactics, techniques and procedures, and strengthen relations within the XCOMM community."
Seamless integrated communications is the warfighter's lifeline, essential for effective mission planning and execution. Information specialists drive this critical capability, evolving their expertise and collaborating to deliver cutting-edge advantages. Their proficiency ensures mission success and empowers them to detect and neutralize enemy attempts to control the communication battlespace.
This year's exercise extended beyond the 5th CCG, incorporating a diverse collection of joint and NATO partners, along with operational mission partner participation from the 53rd Combat Airfield Operations Squadron and the 728th Battle Management Control Squadron. Including these units not only boosts interoperability, but also adds realism by simulating conditions members would operate under in real-world missions.
"It's that interoperability challenge - when we go on deployments, we don't always have the same equipment. How does this all work together? This is a great opportunity to test that," said Carns.
Unlike larger exercises where stable communications are essential to maintain overall mission integrity, the XCOMM Roundup deliberately introduces non-kinetic disruptions, such as simulated threats designed to stress test and enhance participants' abilities to function under denied, disrupted and limited communication conditions.
“We implemented a crawl-walk-run phase of injects, 24 hours a day, in a simulated United States Indo-Pacific Command focused contested environment,” said Senior Master Sgt. Brandon Knapp, 52nd Combat Communications Squadron, Network Operations Flight chief and White Cell team leader. “We started on day one with real-world physical jamming and worked with units to identify those signal interferences. On day two, we had them verify jamming on their own, which led up to day three, where everything was down except for High Frequency, to see if units could maintain communications and route injects accordingly.”
Carns emphasized the learning opportunities presented by intentionally inducing communication failures.
"So often in exercises communications are ‘white carded,’ which doesn't allow for players to get those reps," Carns said. "This exercise will allow us to break things. And it's okay to break things in a training environment, where it's a learning experience."
While it is not uncommon to induce failure in exercises to test responses and capabilities, communications are often excluded due to their importance to the overall exercise execution.
“When we go to other exercises, communications can only be pushed so much since it would risk breaking the exercise,” said Maj. Nico Riascos, director of operations for the 51st Combat Communications Squadron. “We can break this one."
As a relatively uncommon practice, XCOMM organizers stress tested and enhanced participants' abilities to function under denied, disrupted and limited communication conditions, taking full advantage of an exercise focused on communications abilities.
The first week of the XCOMM Roundup focused on academic training and systems familiarization. Participants attended more than two dozen specialized courses hosted across Robins AFB, including sites such as the Systems Learning Center, Combat Readiness School and other training sites.
Among these sessions was hands-on instruction with the Agile Communications Package, an advanced mobile communications capability being piloted by the 52nd CBCS, intended for rapid deployment in diverse operational theaters.
The second week transitioned into a field training exercise, where units established 24-hour operations at austere training locations throughout the installation, operating within a hub-and-spoke system anchored at Robins, coordinating with six additional spoke locations across the U.S., and practicing the Agile Combat Employment scheme of maneuver, which emphasizes distributed, flexible and agile forces.
“It gave us a chance to put everything we learned in training to the test,” said Airman 1st Class Dechaune Myers, Radio Frequency Transmission operator, 224th Joint Communications Support Squadron, Brunswick, Georgia. “We were able to test and coordinate transmission to enable the fight.”
“XCOMM provided us with a chance to learn from and train with our counterparts,” said Group Captain A. D. Colley, commander of 90th Signals Unit, Royal Air Force Leeming, North Yorkshire. “It’s an invaluable opportunity for collaboration, enabling us to share knowledge and strengthen interoperability.”
Pushing the envelope of rapid deployability, the 90th SU began participation in the exercise before they’d even arrived.
“We saw an opportunity to facilitate an unplanned, Agile Combat Employment-style deployment while on a layover in Canada: setting up our kit, successfully communicating with our colleagues at Robins, packing it down and being ready to move again all within 12 hours,” said Colley. “This was a huge victory for us, as it showcased our ability to rapidly establish communications and integrate with our allies, even when geographically separated.”
Throughout the exercise, status updates were given to gauge the unit’s response and adjust accordingly.
Units faced realistic simulated threats from "red team" adversaries, who performed as other communications units acting as opposing forces for the exercise. These included disruptions and attacks orchestrated by specialist units like the Army Space Training Division, from Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and the 57th Information Aggressor Squadron from Nellis AFB, Nevada. Scenarios involved realistic conditions, such as signal jamming and cyber disruptions, forcing participants to employ backup communication methods and develop alternate strategies in real-time.
“Our goal was to bring everybody together and subject them to non-kinetic injects they’re not normally exposed to, in order to make them grow as a community,” Riascos said.
Following the conclusion of XCOMM, various units showcased their expertise in communication and technical support. Teams from multiple squadrons and groups successfully evaluated exercise injects, trained personnel, and led spectrum awareness training. Crucial communication links were established across six hub sites, while other teams restored critical channels and provided uninterrupted support to air battle managers. Satellite communication faults were resolved, enabling network support for multiple units, and a collaborative effort resulted in the development of a groundbreaking mobile command, control, communication, and computer airfield operations node.
"We wanted to provide value to the units as they're preparing to deploy. It's practicing those reps and sets so they have that muscle memory,” said Carns. “When they go out the door, they'll be ready to go."
Ultimately, Carns stated the success of the exercise is measured by practical readiness and continued collaboration.
“We need to keep those partnerships that have been forged here during XCOMM,” said Carns. "This community is one of the tightest I've seen in my Air Force career.”