By Staff Sergeant Elizabeth Taranto

JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii – Pacific Paladin, a professional development course for senior noncommissioned officers in the Pacific, incorporated its first-ever Agile Combat Employment field training exercise during its latest quarterly iteration, Feb. 24-28, 2025.

Hosted by Chief Master Sgt. Katie McCool, Pacific Air Forces command chief, the weeklong course focused on command and Department of Defense priorities, sharpening senior NCOs to return to their units as stronger, more capable leaders and mentors.

“Pacific Paladin 2025 was designed to sharpen warfighting lethality and instill a deeper warrior ethos in our SNCOs,” said Master Sgt. Michael Botti, a Pacific Paladin facilitator. “Our focus is on ensuring participants can rapidly adapt to contested environments, lead Airmen, and execute ACE under real-world conditions.”

With participants attending from across the Pacific, the introduction of ACE field training ensures senior NCOs are prepared for integrated warfare, regardless of career field.

“Participants should leave with a stronger understanding of how to apply ACE concepts, execute mission command, and build interoperability with joint and coalition partners—all essential to deterring aggression and prevailing in conflict,” Botti said.

As this is the second in-person Pacific Paladin course, Botti and the Pacific Paladin team continue adapting to meet course objectives and better prepare senior NCOs for operations in the Pacific.

“We’ve been training for the Middle East over the last 20 years,” Botti said. “But we’re not going to fight like that in this area of responsibility, so we need to prepare our leaders the best we can.”

This iteration fostered development for 26 senior NCOs, each from different career fields and from across the AOR.