Airmen train in ground combat at Camp Shelby

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Claudia Foss
  • 2nd Air Force Public Affairs
About 170 Airmen have graduated from Camp Shelby, Miss., after four weeks of ground combat skills training in preparation for deployment to Afghanistan to support Army embedded training teams. 

"Very few of us knew each other when we first got here," said Maj. Brenda Frye, support team commander. "We (divided) into an Army company, platoon and squad. For a squad you (have) a driver, a combat life saver, two gunners and a troop commander.

"It was interesting to see how we do this because the Air Force has never had to do this," she said. "You learn how to work with all those people. Our Airmen have stepped up and done a really good job out here." 

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley tasked 2nd Air Force to manage the oversight of Airmen throughout their training cycle for "in-lieu-of" taskings and individual augmentee taskings to the United States Central Command area of responsibility. This is the first team to graduate since that tasking.

Tech. Sgt. Alphonso Smith, a readiness NCO at Brooks City Base, San Antonio, said he advises Airmen to be mentally and physically prepared before entering ILO training. 

"The Army believes in repetition, so that (a procedure) is embedded," Sergeant Smith said. "When a grenade goes off, it's second nature for you to know exactly what to do." 

Under ILO taskings, Airmen, Sailors, Soldiers and Marines from a cross-section of military specialties are performing nontraditional missions to provide temporary augmentation. ILO training is designed to develop a population of Airmen who are combat-ready and able to fulfill duties outside their normal Air Force specialty. 

"I'm extremely grateful for our high-caliber Airmen who have taken on the challenges of ILO training," said Col. Scott Schafer, vice commander at 2nd Air Force. 

Colonel Schafer expressed his gratitude at a picnic held for the Airmen and their families. He thanked the families for their support and prayers "because without them, the Airmen couldn't have successfully accomplished the training," he said. 

Col Schafer offered the graduates, who came together from 50 bases, a challenge to continue the partnership that was forged four years ago between the U.S. and Afghanistan.

"Airmen join hands with Army embedded training teams and work with the new Afghan National Army to come together to rebuild that country," he said. "I can't think of a greater, more exciting challenge that you have before you to be part of history, to be part of helping this country come to see that freedom that they've never seen before."

The four-week course included theater immersion training activities such as individual movement techniques, mounted combat patrols, improvised explosion device identification training, and combat lifesaver training. The course also included support missions exercises, night-firing weapons training, base defense training, and combat tactics exercises. 

Major Frye said the training also included a five-day field training exercise for convoy operations. She said the training incorporated relevant scenarios geared toward experiences and expected situations in current deployed environments. 

"The most important thing we gained from our experience here was to be comfortable with carrying and firing a loaded weapon," Major Frye said. "Everyone got a lot more comfortable with (his or her) M-16 and M-9."