Altus and Sheppard Airmen train together for war

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Nathan Clark
  • 97th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  It's only been a few days into the deployment for the contracting Airmen, but after recovering from an earlier bomb threat, tensions are high.

Now, a disgruntled vender from a nearby village has made his way into the contracting tent and is angry that his deal did not go through. In the intensity and confusion of the moment, he grabs a rifle next to him and aims it at one of the Airmen. The others engage the man and he is killed so no harm is done to the Airmen.

This situation could have been avoided, but learning was the goal of this joint contingency contracting bare-base exercise for Airmen of the 82nd Contracting Squadron from Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas and the 97th Contracting Flight from Altus Air Force Base.

For four days, the Airmen went through the four phases of deployment: bare-base, build-up, sustainment, and redeployment/teardown. This basic two-tent camp in the middle of a grassy field is powered by only a generator.

Covering all of those aspects of a deployment was very important to preparing Airmen for operations in remote locations.

"Our career field is filled with people with little or no experience with contingencies," said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Joshua Bruce, 97th contract specialist. "It's good for them to get out in the field with people who have deployed and learn some of those field lessons in the setting they would be in."

This was the second time Altus and Sheppard have come together for this training. The involvement of two bases helps more Airmen get experience of a deployed environment, and adds the challenge of working with others they weren't familiar with.

"When we deploy, we go with people we don't know," said Bruce. "That is easy to simulate when it's two bases working together. One of the biggest things when you deploy is building that personal relationship with your teammates."

They also had a chance to apply their everyday work in a unique environment, as well as learning new skills. 

"Normally I'd be doing the paperwork, but here, I'm also one of the team leads, so this helps me learn to rely on the Airmen  more and for me to focus on management," said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jaime Compean, a 97th contract specialist. "Everybody has really pulled together to make this work."

The training gave many Airmen a better understanding of how their job is performed while deployed, said Bruce. "Where we are, we don't have to handle too many urgent requirements. This gives them the opportunity to be stressed a little bit and mesh what they learned in basic training and tech school."

And there were plenty of stressful situations.

With the help of the 97th Security Forces Squadron, the participants wore chemical attack gear, Kevlar jackets, and carried rifles. Not only did they look the part, but the Airmen had to put practical field exercises to use by responding to simulated bomb threats and rocket propelled grenade fire, and a small team of rebels attacking the base, all while accomplishing the contracting mission.

"The field training was very useful," said U.S. Air Force 2nd Lt. Teresa Elsbree, 82nd Contracting Squadron contract specialist. "That's not something we do every day. It was good to get more familiar with everything."

Staying familiar is what the exercise was all about, said Bruce. "This should be more of a refresher for them, that way when they do deploy, they don't have to worry about relearning all of this."