LEDx: Beyond the Horizon-Operation ANACONDA roundtable event scheduled Published March 20, 2024 By Billy Blankenship Air University Public Affairs The Curtis E. LeMay Center for Doctrine Development and Education and Air University's Innovation Accelerator are teaming up to present a panel discussion focused on Operation ANACONDA at the historic Kress Building in Montgomery, Alabama, April 3. Associated with the Beyond the Horizon Air and Space show happening April 6 and 7, the fireside chat style event will feature key members of the 2002 operation will tell their part of the story and how it relates to current doctrinal topics such as mission command, ACE, and dispersed operations. “We’re honored to host six legends who received Distinguished Flying Crosses for their work during ANACONDA,” said Lt. Col. Andy Bogusky, chief of Air Force doctrine outreach for the Lemay Center. “Anyone interested in applying Mission Command and ACE in real combat operations will get a lot out of this discussion. We’re really trying to reach an audience who is curious about how to implement real-world solutions to concepts like mission command and ACE in uncertain and communications-degraded environments. That was Operation ANACONDA.” Operation ANACONDA was a coalition military operation in Afghanistan aimed at eliminating al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in the Shah-i-Kot Valley. The coalition forces engaged in intense combat, facing well-entrenched terrorists who had holed up in the mountainous terrain. “The lessons learned from this formidable operation early in the war in Afghanistan translate extremely well to Great Power Competition today,” Bogusky said. “It’s commonly accepted that while the character of war always changes, the nature of war remains constant; and especially now more than ever, we need to figure out how to lead through uncertainty while accomplishing commander’s intent, and to work out how does command and control look like in dispersed operations. The lessons from Operation ANACONDA and the wisdom from the roundtable panel will hopefully help people think through these issues.” Expected participants include retired Col. Scott C. “Soup” Campbell, retired Col. Arden B. “Surgeon” Dahl, retired Col. Andra “Poptart” Kniep, retired Col. Edward A. “K9” Kostelnick, retired Col. David M. “El Cid” Neunswander and retired Lt. Col. Robert C. “Mumbles” Silva. Seats are limited to approximately 100 people, RSVP to reserve your spot here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ledxdoctrine-beyond-the-horizon-operation-anaconda-tickets-840788700637?aff=oddtdtcreator