HIANG’s Sentry Aloha 25-01 Bolsters Agile Combat Employment with Enhanced Mission Readiness

Posted on Feb 24, 2025 in 2020's, History
U.S. Air Force F-22A Raptors assigned to the 199th Fighter Squadron, operated by members of the 199th and 19th Fighter Squadrons, and a KC-135 Stratotanker assigned to the 203rd Air Refueling Squadron taxi the runway on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Feb 5, 2025 for Sentry Aloha 25-1. Fighter jets, tankers, and support units participated in simulated combat scenarios, enhancing interoperability and readiness among U.S. military forces. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Roann Gatdula)

The Hawaii Air National Guard’s (HIANG) 154th Wing successfully concluded their long running defense readiness exercise Sentry Aloha on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Feb. 12, 2025.

Designated Sentry Aloha 25-1, this iteration began Jan. 29 and brought approximately 800 joint personnel including Guardsman, Reservists, locally-based active duty partners from the 15th Wing, Sailors and Marines and nearly 30 aircraft from six states.

For more than 20 years, Sentry Aloha is an ongoing series of exercises that enable tailored, cost effective and realistic combat training for Air National Guard, U.S. Air Force, and other Department of Defense services. It provides U.S. war fighters with the skill sets necessary to perform homeland defense and overseas combat missions.

Sentry Aloha is built around Dissimilar Air Combat Training (DACT), which challenges pilots to engage in combat scenarios against aircraft with different performance capabilities. Rather than training against identical airframes, DACT forces pilots to adapt to unpredictable engagements, testing their ability to exploit their own platform’s strengths while capitalizing on adversary weaknesses.

The exercise operates at an intense tempo, with participants generating back-to-back combat training sorties daily. This high-paced battle rhythm ensures pilots experience continuous exposure to varied threats, refining their decision-making, reaction times and overall combat effectiveness in a dynamic and ever-evolving air combat environment.

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