BACKGROUND
In 2021, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force initiated Project Phalanx to align and enhance operational analysis capabilities across the service. As a direct outcome of this initiative, Detachment 4, Headquarters Air Combat Command (HQ ACC), was established in 2022 as an interim organization to provide immediate analytic capability to warfighters.
Operating from April 2023 to June 2025, Detachment 4 successfully demonstrated the value of dedicated operations analysis at the tactical and operational levels. On June 4, 2025, the ACC Operations Analysis Squadron (ACC OAS) was formally activated, assuming the mission, personnel, and functions of Detachment 4.
With this activation, the former ACC Studies and Analyses Squadron (ACC SAS)—which operated from 1994 to 2001 providing critical analysis on the application of airpower—was officially redesignated and reactivated as the ACC OAS. Today, the ACC OAS carries this legacy forward by supporting analytic requirements for units throughout ACC, meeting the Command’s analytic demands required in this new era.
MISSION
Execute operations analysis by transforming data into decision advantage for ACC commanders and warfighters within combat airpower, cyberwarfare, and intelligence formations.
FORCES AND ORGANIZATION
The ACC OAS is comprised of approximately 30 personnel. The team is primarily made up of military Operations Analysis Officers and civilian Operations Research Analysts. The team is also supplemented with enlisted teammates from the Software Developer, Scientific Application Specialist, and Maintenance Management Analysis specialties. The squadron is structured into three specialized analytic flights: Information Warfare Operations Analysis, Combat Operations Analysis, and AOC/Exercises Analysis.
CAPABILITIES
The squadron serves as a force multiplier for ACC, providing direct analytic support to tactical and operational-level commanders who often lack organic data analysis resources. By embedding data science methods, tools, and processes, the ACC OAS equips warfighters to achieve decision advantage. The team's core competencies include optimization, modeling and simulation, artificial intelligence, applied machine learning, process automation, and predictive analysis. Ultimately, the ACC OAS provides data-driven insights and solutions to ACC’s Numbered Air Forces, Air Operations Centers, Wings, and levels below the Wing.