Airmen train at Fort Bragg for 'outside the wire' deployment

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Eric M. Grill
  • Air Force News Agency
FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AFPN) --  More than 175 Airmen from 55 different bases around the world are training here with an "outside the wire" mindset as they prepare for their upcoming deployment to Afghanistan.

The Airmen will be part of Provincial Reconstruction Teams on 270-day deployments to help rebuild the infrastructure and legitimize the Afghan government. 

They will be separated into seven of the 12 PRTs going over to Afghanistan in November. Six of the 12 PRTs will be Air Force led, while the remaining six will be led by the Navy.

The backgrounds of these Airmen range from younger first-term Airmen all the way up to field-grade officers, and reach a wide-variety of job specialties.

The only common theme at the training at Fort Bragg is they're all out of their Air Force element serving jointly with Soldiers, Sailors and civilians learning how to operate in small teams to survive in austere combat environments.

For Staff Sgt. Nestor Sosa, a vehicle mechanic deployed from Altus Air Force Base, Okla., the PRT mission was a wake-up call to the bigger picture on the war on terrorism.

"I thought it was a regular deployment and that I would go do my job and come back," he said. Once arriving for training here, "I found out that no matter what your job is, you're going to have more responsibility, more things to deal with than just your normal job. With me, besides fixing vehicles, I (am) detailed as a gunner."

Prior to the war on terrorism, the Air Force was mostly known as a "behind the wire type of branch," said 1st Lt. Kimberly Bentley, an intelligence officer deployed from Ramstein Air Base, Germany. She will be part of the Zabul Province PRT.

"I didn't anticipate getting dressed up in full battle-rattle and practicing my conflict training and performing ID checks," the young lieutenant said.

At the same time; however, she said that isn't stopping her from embracing her new combat mission.

"I am excited about the actual deployment," she said. "I think it's a great mission and it's a great opportunity for an Intel officer," because the deployment "is different than what our normal deployment tasking might be."

It's that difference that makes going outside the wire so important to these Airmen.

"We have an opportunity to affect real change and help, in my case, several million people, to get their lives back after three decades of war," said Capt. Jim Gingras, a civil engineer on the Parwan and Kapisa PRT who is deployed from Spangdahlem AB, Germany.

Captain Gingras' PRT mission is to help do construction and reconstruction of the infrastructure of surrounding buildings and facilities in his Afghan province.

The sustaining economy and infrastructure "is really the whole point of what we're doing this for -- to get the government of Afghanistan to increase their efficacy and stand up on their own two feet and enable running the government legitimately," the captain said.

Still the mission is dangerous.

Prior to coming here after being selected as one of the six Air Force PRT commanders, Lt. Col. Daniel Moy went over to the Paktya Province where his PRT will be deployed to.

"When I was there recently, the PRT (members) told me about a very dark month for them -- June -- where they suffered two casualties from an (improvised explosive device) attack," Colonel Moy said. "Obviously the human aspect of that is a burden for any unit, especially a small unit to bear. It hit home that everybody who is going into that environment needs to be ready on how to respond."

Because of this, Airmen, Soldiers and Sailors receive the nearly three months of Combat Skills Training here.

"This is not any ordinary deployment that Air Force members go on -- going into a combat zone," Colonel Moy said. "What's going to happen from day to day cannot be predicted in advance. They have to be ready for everything. Whether it is providing medical assistance to local villagers one day, the next day they may come under fire from a small-arms complex attack; they have to be ready to respond to a full-spectrum of those events."

The chance for combat doesn't deter these Airmen from their mission.

"This is an opportunity for the Air Force to take force multipliers like myself and expand our influence and expand our ability to help (the Afghans) do well," Captain Gingras said. "It's not just the kinetic ability to put bullets down range; it's helping people and providing the security to enable that to happen."

For Tech. Sgt. Wiley Cooey, a supply noncommissioned officer deployed to the Paktya PRT from MacDill AFB, Fla., it's about getting involved and helping others.

"To me, it's just trying to provide as best for them, teach them how to take care of themselves and stand on their own two feet," Sergeant Cooey said. 

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