An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

AETC senior NCOs immerse in history during Gettysburg trip

  • Published
  • By Air Education and Training Command Public Affairs
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas --  

Examples of Airmen and their predecessors operating in austere, Agile Combat Employment-like conditions under immense pressure, while sustaining high numbers of casualties is not new and has been a feature of many past conflicts.

With his concept that Airmen would learn from viewing a battlefield in person and apply those lessons learned to today’s emerging threats, Chief Master Sgt. Chad Bickley, command chief for Air Education and Training Command, and 30 senior enlisted leaders from across AETC embarked on an immersive learning experience earlier this year at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Supported by AETC historians, Gary Boyd and Bill Manchester, the trip correlated the demands of the current Great Power Competition with the historical watershed the battle represented.

“Though airpower was largely confined to ballooning and other observation platforms, the American Civil War is a great learning resource for Airmen of today, in order to understand the sacrifices and commitments of a large conflict,” Bickley said. “Of all battles in that war, none was a better representation of the courage, resiliency and innovation required by military members today, than the Battle of Gettysburg, fought in 1863.

“I wanted senior enlisted leaders of the command to literally feel the ground and connect with the momentous history of the place,” Bickley said. “My intent was for all of us to leave the trip better equipped to lead and prepare members for the potential demands ahead.”

The fight at Gettysburg included about 166,000 combatants—about 72,000 Confederate and 94,000 Union troops—with more than 51,000 casualties among the forces, along with more than 2,400 civilians caught up within the battle and around Gettysburg.

“Discussions revolved around standards—both the bravery needed to uphold the regimental and national standard flags, and also the meaning of standards and discipline in the lives of today’s Airmen in a fight such as they may never have imagined or thought possible,” Bickley said.

Each day of the battle, fought largely over a three-day span, ranked individually among the top 10 bloodiest days of the Civil War, according to Boyd. He said, “Attrition was high; logistics issues were existential; resiliency a premium; and courage contagious across both sides of the fight.”

Bickley said, “Most staff rides are arranged for officers and commanders. Gettysburg, just like it would be today, the engaged forces were mostly enlisted forces. The actions of the enlisted forces were the axis upon which the battle turned. Ranks of disciplined Soldiers, shoulder-to-shoulder, marching for days and then beginning to fight and dig in as soon as they arrived at the designated location. Emulating the best of Gettysburg’s fighting discipline should be a priority for every Airman.”

Before the trip, participants were given correlative studies for the Battle of Gettysburg.

“The distances marched by Soldiers of the Union Army is often overlooked in recollections of the battle,” Boyd said. “Some Soldiers died of exhaustion on the way to the fight—succumbing to hunger, thirst and exposure during the heat of the march. For example, the Union’s VI Corps under Maj. Gen. John Sedgewick traveled 31 miles in a day to get to the battlefield. Concentrating forces at a moment of opportunity—a maxim still in play for ACE operations—was no mean feat.”

Boyd also said, “Choosing the right conditions and ground for battle, using the advantages of interior lines, scouting the enemy and unmasking his intentions, building improvised fortifications, were all part of the daily activities and central to all the lessons were the incredible casualties sustained by both sides.”

The final portion of the battlefield tour included walking the grounds of Col. George Pickett’s charge across a mile of open ground toward prepared artillery and infantry positions on higher ground.

“While on the battlefield, all of the attendees representing AETC proactively participated with questions, thoughts and analysis over the two days of traveling the battlefield,” Boyd said. “Some participants trod the ground where ancestors had fought and died—a profound, personal experience. All were overcome with emotion at various parts of the battlefield.”

Sixty-four Medals of Honor were conferred for service at Gettysburg, according to Boyd.

“This battlefield and its history reinforced the immediacy of the contemporary threats,” Bickley said. “The trip highlighted the enormous challenges of great power engagements and reinforced the heritage of valor, upon which the Air Force and our NCO corps were built. My goal for this trip was for attendees to study and immerse themselves in combat. Walking the grounds of one of the bloodiest fights in our history really put things into perspective. We exist to fight and deter wars, events like this are great at reinforcing these concepts overall.”