The 5th Mob: providing what’s needed at a moments notice

ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. — “Let’s go:” a phrase often akin to readiness, willingness and spirit; it’s also the motto of the 5th Combat Communication Group, a unit dedicated to building communication capability for the United States Air Force in places across the globe, whether it be a hostile location, or one that has fallen victim to manmade or human disaster.

David Abel, group commander for the 5th Combat Communications Group, provided details on the history of his unit, it’s importance, and what they’re all about.

On a daily basis, Abel works to lead his people, execute their mission, manage resources and improve the unit — things any commander in the United States Air Force would be tasked with doing. Specific to his unit however, Abel’s work consists of maintaining combat readiness and providing “mission-focused training” for the airmen in his unit. On a daily basis, he works with a diverse team of leaders all over the world, tasked with different missions, serving the airmen within his unit.

According to Abel, however, his task of leadership is one he shares with many others within his unit.

“I’m not alone in this duty, the 5th Combat Comms Group has amazing leaders at all ranks, from our squadron leadership to our junior airmen, who are operating on the front lines,” the commander said.

Abel spoke on several occasions of the exploits of leadership within 5CCG, including their recently announced “Gator of the Month,” Staff Sgt. Daniel Papic. Papic led a team of airmen to revitalize the unit’s maintenance program, and played a key role in the success of two “full motion video missions,” that were integral in maintaining safety for President Biden and 535 congressional leaders during the State of the Union Address.

Master Sgt. Matt Miller was also named, after recently completing the Middle Georgia Regional Commission Leadership Cohort, spending 11 months guiding community actions. Abel also said he plays a major role in caring for the airmen within the unit.

Civilian leaders within the unit were recognized a well, for their decades of leadership and support: Steve Seely and Sam Pursley have trained generations of airmen to set up 5CCG’s tactical gear, JT Thornton, the unit’s lead planner, builds the plan for all 5CCG missions, and Mike Lobertini makes sure that the unit’s airmen get paid.

Leaders like Abel, Papic, Miller and the many civilians within the unit, their exploits, are some of the most recent additions in a long, proud history of 5CCG, formally known as the 5th Mobile Communications Group, and affectionately titled the 5th Mob.

The 5th Combat Communications Group was activated at Robins Air Force Base, on July 1, 1964. They’ve been based here ever since.

Abel’s unit has a history of providing necessary communications around the world, whether it be for necessary military matters, or humanitarian efforts needed to support the citizens of the United States.

“The 5th has been involved in just about every major military operation since Vietnam, and we also support a number of humanitarian relief operations like the Hurricane Katrina recovery,” Abel said.

They also work locally within the Houston County community, supporting Feeding America through Maggie Lane at the Georgia National Fairgrounds, and providing a self defense course for women and children through the Combat Readiness School. Just recently, 5CCG airmen took some of the unit’s vehicles and equipment to the Museum of Aviation to show children fighting cancer.

Majorly, however, 5CCG acts as “first boots on the ground, expeditionary comms force.”

“We can set up advanced communications capabilities needed by the Air Force to operate anywhere in the world, and then we can move to action on a moments notice,” Abel said. “Our mission’s exciting. We can go to a desert in the Middle East or an island in the Pacific and set up computers, networks, radios and technology similar to what you’d find here at Robins Air Force Base.

“If you think about any team activity, communications is fundamental to the team operating and succeeding,” Abel explained. “That’s very much true in the Air Force — our pilots need communications to receive the intelligence they use to plan their missions, they need communications to receive the air tacking order, the directions for what they have to do, and then once they’re on mission, they’re flying, they need communications between each other to be successful on that mission.

“That’s not just true for pilots, that’s true of any career field you can imagine on the great Air Force team, and nowadays, as much as we depend on data and computers, the technologies that we bring there to give us an advantage, our role is providing that capability.”

The four squadrons within the unit, the 5th Combat Communications Support Squadron, the 51st Combat Communication Squadron, the 52nd Combat Communications Squadron and the 85th Engineering and Installation Squadron, are comprised of nearly 700 airmen and civilian personnel, with 16 different specialties.

5CCG specialties include multiple within communications and cyber fields, as well as security forces, supply, logistics, vehicle maintenance, civil engineering and war. Teams within the 5th Combat Comms Group work in a self-sufficient manner, providing their own security, bringing in and managing their own water, fuel, food and supplies. The airmen in these teams are trained in specialized combat and specialized technical skills, learning how to fight and operate in a hostile environment, how to work with new technologies and gain commercial certificates.

“Our airmen and equipment are often tailored to the mission they have to support and the environment they’re going to,” Abel said.

In 2022 alone, 5CCG personnel deployed for nearly 24,000 mission days to 15 countries across the globe, providing necessary communications infrastructure for the United States Air Force and it’s several missions.

Recently, the unit has deployed a team of 46 “Mobsters” to support US operations within Europe, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022, establishing themselves at six classified locations and “provided critical capability and support needed to counter and deter Russian aggression.”

Some other missions of note:

-Within 5CCG is a team called “Hammer A.C.E.,” the acronym standing for Adaptable Communications Element. They work to provide “rapid initial communications” in the event of emergencies. Led by First Lieutenant Emma Strong, this team brings national capability to the unit.

-Working within the 85th Engineering and Installation Squadron are the “Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations,” providing “rapid interference resolution capabilities” within the electromagnetic environment. If a military system is dealing with electromagnetic inference, this group solves that problem.

-A “Fieldcraft Hostile Course,” run by Master Sergeant Dewar and his team, offers pre-deployment training when preparing for a combat zone to the Air Force, largely as a whole.

A nearly sixty-year-old unit, the 5th Mob has gone through some changes. With six decades of history backing them, they’ve grown and developed, taking on new skills and challenges with the changing time, and expanding technologies.

Their mission, Abel said, is to be ready to go at any time, hence their motto: “Let’s go!”

Through this constant readiness, 5CCG has established themselves as a group capable of installing necessary communication channels whenever and wherever needed. It’s one of the many keys to the Air Force’s success.

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