The Air Force Test Center ushered in a new era of the Multi-Domain Test Force, appointing its first military commander, Lt. Col. David Levene, at the AFTC Detachment 1 and MDTF Assumption of Command ceremony July 9, 2021.
The MDTF will take residence at Nellis AFB, Nev., with future employees set to additionally operate out of Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and Eglin AFB, Fla.
“The need for a test environment to support joint, all-domain, warfighting has been recognized for years, but left to the innovative airmen in our test squadrons to create for themselves … until the standup of the MDTF,” said the presiding official, Maj. Gen. Christopher Azzano, Air Force Test Center commander.
The MDTF will serve as the connective tissue for test environments that aim to bridge air, land, maritime, cyberspace, space, and electromagnetic spectrum domains.
“The MDTF is an enduring pursuit, not a new building, new people, or new equipment,” said Azzano. “It’s a new paradigm, an adaptable, evolving team…a mindset for collaborating across the vast talent of the test center and our mission partners.”
Air Force Test Center formally stood up the MDTF Oct. 1, 2020, at Edwards, under the leadership of Christopher Klug.
“At the stand-up we said what the MDTF would be: a service, domain, and geographically agnostic organization, people and capability based,” said Klug. “Things that were questions 1, 2, 3 years ago, are now answers.”
The group of new hires set to work at Nellis, Edwards and Eglin will serve as the core nucleus to support and enable thousands of testers who make multi-domain test happen.
“The MDTF’s mission is an opportunity to add to the Air Force and DOD’s test enterprise and help shape and ensure the effectiveness of the next generation of warfighting capabilities,” said Levene.
Forging partnerships and relationships within the developmental and operational test communities will be a top priority for the MDTF as it grows in capability.
“To the Warfare Center, to the Air Force and joint acquisition communities, to our friends in the departments of the Navy and the Army, to the Air Force Major Commands, the Combatant Commands, and many other future mission partners,” said Levene, the new MDTF commander. “We are excited to work with you, because while this is an Air Force unit, Multi-Domain testing is inherently joint.”
The MDTF will aim to fill in the seams in test organizations, identifying needs to connect, collaborate or create new technological capabilities at the speed of relevance.
MDTF will work alongside Large Force Test Events such as the 412th Test Wing’s Orange Flag, the 96th Test Wing’s Emerald Flag, and the 53rd Wing’s Black Flag.
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