Creek Defender preps security forces for potential battle

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Lance Heinzelman
  • Det. 4, Air Force News Agency
BAUMHOLDER, Germany (AFPN) --  A Humvee drives down a seemingly quiet street, when from nowhere, gunfire erupts leaving a haze of smoke and empty shells.

With little response time, the convoy reacts, spraying round after round at a target whose only objective, is to eliminate the American threat.

But this is no war zone; rather, it is how security forces from across U.S. Air Forces in Europe train for deployment.

The Creek Defender exercise held in Baumholder, Germany, helps prepare Airmen for the sights, sounds, and adrenaline rush that they may face while deployed in support of the global war on terrorism.

Using after-action reports received from Afghanistan and Iraq, the Creek Defender Cadre developed their training plan. "All our Cadre have been deployed within the last two years, and they've had eyes-on, and boots on the ground, and they understand what we're facing down there," said Master Sgt. Tamela Hartz, the USAFE Regional Training Center superintendent.

Cadre members play the role of opposition forces, or OPFOR, testing their students' reactions to situations where they must engage an enemy threat, and protect their convoy. Each squad must first eliminate the OPFOR, before moving on with operations, all the while relaying information back to their headquarters.

The Creek Defender Cadre believes their lessons could save lives, in the heat of battle.

"When these students leave here, and go downrange, hopefully they won't see anything that we haven't already thrown at them...they will be able to recount how they were able to overcome whatever challenge we threw at them, and hopefully come back in one piece," said Staff Sgt. James Baylis, a member of the OPFOR team.

The convoy operation and live-fire scenarios are one part of the two-week exercise, helping Airmen play their part, when deployed down range. And when the smoke clears, Airmen will get to roll their convoy into another day.

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