Airmen from across the world participate in Silver Flag

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Jocelyn Rich
  • 86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (AFNS) --  Airmen from around the world came together at the U.S. Air Forces in Europe training area recently for a weeklong contingency operations training exercise.

During Silver Flag, Airmen from several different career specialties work together to learn how to build and sustain a base in a contingency environment consisting of five days of academic training, followed by a day of practical application.

"The environment the students encounter simulates a medium threat location that allows their leadership to guide every move from convoys to redeployment," said Master Sgt. Lamont Hall, the 435th Construction and Training Squadron Heavy Repair Contingency Training Section chief.

Civil engineer, communications, force support and finance Airmen demonstrated their comprehension of the information they were taught in the classroom by participating in various scenarios requiring the application of those skills.

"Some of the scenarios involved bed-down initiatives, force protection, airfield repair, services operations and fire control," Sergeant Hall said.

Silver Flag is not only about training Airmen -- getting their hands dirty with tent construction, water purification and damage repair, but it is also a place to train those who will manage and lead these operations.

"We have anywhere from airman basic all the way up to lieutenant colonel," said Staff Sgt. Birgir Hrafnsson, a 435th Construction and Training Squadron water and fuels systems maintenance specialist. "We teach (the students) academically how to operate each piece of equipment specific to their Air Force specialty code, and then on exercise day we also test their leadership on how well they can organize and lead the crafts on the overall mission."

This Silver Flag event was unique because officers from the Romanian air force were invited to observe the training.

"It is good for our allies to see our capabilities first hand, mainly from a management perspective," Sergeant Hall said. "They see what we do from scratch so they get a real idea of everything that goes into this."

The Romanian air force officers observed throughout the week of training, with the U.S. Airmen learning firsthand what it takes to conduct an operation like this.

"This is not the first time we have worked together (with the U.S.) but after seeing this, we are having a chance to see the possibilities," said Romanian air force 2nd Lt. Octavian Rosu, Logistics, from the 71st Air Base, Romania. "The training is pretty realistic and everything they are doing is exactly according to plan. They are very professional."

"It is easy to work together because we have some experience and we combine our capabilities with U.S. Forces," said Romanian air force Lt. Col. Vasila Apostu, the chief of logistics at the 95th Air Base, Romania. "It is very useful for us to be here for this training because we learn about the planning, and of course we are seeing the execution of that planning unfold right here."

Romanian forces are involved in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I think that (having the Romanian Airmen here to observe) is a great thing," Sergeant Hrafnsson said. "We are helping them help us in the long term. It is no longer the small picture of just us, or just the U.S. Air Force. It is the big picture of us and our allies worldwide."