Academy cadets gain insight into security forces mission while deployed

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Chance Babin
  • 380th Air Expeditionary Wing public affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  For a group of U.S. Air Force Academy cadets visiting the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing in Southwest Asia, a training day with security forces proved both exhausting and informative.

The cadets, here as part of Operation Air Force-Deployed -- a program designed to give cadets a firsthand view of a deployment -- performed baton training with Airmen from the 380th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron.

"Baton training is used as a less-than-lethal means of force to gain compliance against someone who poses a harmful threat," said Staff Sgt. Travis Martho, a security forces trainer from the 380th ESFS. "With the cadets we're giving them a different point of view on how cops react and respond to situations that are tense, uncertain and rapidly evolving."

During the training, the cadets learned to use a baton against a single attacker who was dressed in a red protective suit known as the red-man suit. The drill intensifies as a second and third attacker assails the cadet. Each cadet had to ward off the attackers for three minutes.

"This was tough," said Cadet Jake Alleman, an aspiring intelligence officer. "It was three minutes of straight pain. I boxed at the Academy, so I figured I'd have a handle on it. But after a minute or two, you think you're going strong; then you lose all technique once you get tired, and it's like a street fight."

In addition to the baton training, the 380th ESFS gave the cadets instruction on weapons training, military dog handling and exercise scenarios.

"The 380th Security Forces Training section was honored to train our future leaders on defensive tactics with the baton," Martho said.

The Operation Air Force-Deployed program sends groups of cadets to Air Force bases for three weeks, where they follow officers in different career fields to gain an understanding of career responsibilities. They also interact with enlisted members to gain a view of leadership in action.