Preparing for deployment; exceeding the standard

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Nathan Clark
  • Altus Air Force Base Public Affairs
ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. – --  Throughout the year, Altus Air Force Base deploys more than 300 Airmen to various locations across the globe, but before they can leave, they must qualify with their weapons and learn applicable combat skills.

A five-day, pre-deployment class teaches Airmen to confidently handle weapons, apply first aid, and protect themselves against chemical attacks.

“We like to have a relaxed environment in the class, that way the Airmen can concentrate on learning and not worry about messing up,” said Tony Guyton, 97th Wing Staff Agency expeditionary skills training program supervisor. “On the first day there are several briefings from legal, finance, family readiness and others like that, and then they get issued their weapons and chemical warfare gear. After that, it’s a lot of hands-on stuff and can be extensive.”

Although the instructors keep a relaxed atmosphere, they have high expectations for the Airmen going through the course.

“We tell them we aren’t here to teach them to be the average Airmen, but to be the best and exceed the standard,” said Guyton. Starting at the fundamentals, the Airmen learn to break their weapons down, clean them, reassemble it and ensure each part is in working order. “At the end, there’s nothing they don’t know about the weapon.”

Once they master the basics, the instructors spare no effort or expense in teaching proper handling and use of their weapons.

The Expeditionary Skills Trainer is a virtual shooting range and simulator with the ability to analyze everything from trigger pull to path of the gun barrel between each shot. With years of U.S. Marine Corps. and U.S. Army Ranger knowledge and experience combined with the technology of the EST, the instructors are able to provide individual instruction to the students. The EST also allows the instructors to interchange weapons depending on what each Airman will be using downrange. “I can’t think of any other base that has a program like Altus,” said Guyton. “We spend countless hours on the simulator teaching them things other bases don’t teach them.”

Not only do Airmen spend time fine-tuning trigger pull and grouping on the simulator, they also use blank rounds to help them become comfortable with troubleshooting before moving to live rounds.

Using blanks, allows the Airmen to learn to shoot in each firing position: standing, kneeling and prone. Using mixture of spent and unspent rounds in the rifle magazines, the Airmen become proficient in fixing jams, misfires and reloading. On the final day, they put the skills they have learned during the week and begin firing live rounds to qualify on their necessary weapons, 35 percent of which shoot expert annually.

“The simulator was highly beneficial,” said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Brian Gallacher, 97th Wing Staff Agency emergency actions controller. “The instructors really seemed to know what they were doing. This course was a nice refresher.”

Along with learning the ins and outs of their weapons, instructors from the 97th Medical Group and 97th Civil Engineer Squadron taught first aid procedures and how to wear chemical warfare gear. The Airmen were taught to properly wear mission oriented protective posture gear, a chemical suit and gas mask designed to keep chemicals and contaminates off the skin. They also reviewed first aid techniques and practices, such as dressing wounds and proper storage and care of a first aid kit.

As part of the mission of “forging air combat mobility forces and deploying Airmen warriors”, Altus AFB takes pride in the quality Airmen it sends downrange.

“We’ve always had the mindset of ‘do the best you can,’” said Guyton, “Why teach them on the basic level? We feel we provide the best training the Air Force can offer. We know that when our Airmen deploy, they will be among the best.”