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Photo: Tech. Sgt. Robert Hoyt, 786th Security Forces Squadron, gets a huge welcome home from his wife, Sunny, and daughter, Patricia. He and other 86th Contingency Response Group members returned from Operation Iraqi Freedom Sunday.
"American" Vol. 27, No. 16 Friday, May 2, 2003 Kaiserslautern, Germany
Home again
86th CRG returns to Ramstein
by Staff Sgt. M. Davis
86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
The 86th Contingency Response Group returned to Ramstein Sunday to fanfare, flags and cheering crowds of loved ones after its deployment to Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The Unique group, consisting of the 86th Air Mobility Squadron, 786th Security Forces Squadron and other units, were deployed since mid-March to set up an airfield in Bashur, Iraq.
"This was probably one of' the most challenging missions the CRG faced to date," said Col. Steven Weart, 86th CRG commander. "I'm extremely proud of the accomplishments the group achieved in just a few, short weeks."
In a little more than a month, the CRG downloaded 22.5 million pounds of cargo, 4,300 passengers and medically evacuated more than 15 patients. Additionally, 366 missions flew into the airfield. This was all accomplished with only one-quarter of the group's required equipment - much of their equipment stayed behind because of' aircraft-weight restrictions.
As the returning service members disembarked from two C-17 aircraft, they were greeted by loud cheers, music provided by the U.S. Air Force's in Europe Band and a reception breakfast provided by the 86th Services Squadron.
Among the assembly of spouses, children and well-wishers was Melissa Wilhelm who waited for her husband, Tech. Sgt. Eric Wilhelm, 86th AMS, to arrive.
"We are Used to him being deployed with the 86th CRG periodically, but this deployment was very stressful and tiring;" she said.
For the Wilhelm's 8-year-old twins - Kathryn and Megan, Daddy was coming home. "They were up late the night before making posters," she said. -We are all very excited."
After the family reunited on the flight line Tech. Sgt. Wilhelm said, "It's great to be home. I missed my family a lot."
The deployment went well, because of the camaraderie, he said. "We worked well together and morale was very high," said the newly promoted technical sergeant. "It helped that we were able to communicate with our loved ones from the field."
Although some members of the group came home, others deployed to another area downrange.
"We are hoping for the speedy return of' the remainder of the unit that is still in Iraq," Weart said. For the CRG members who returned, "The focus is reconstituting the unit's capabilities in the shortest amount of time to be back on alert," he said.
"I'm proud of the professional ism and dedication the 86th CRG displayed," said Brig. Gen. Erwin F. Lessel III, 86th Airlift Wing commander.
"Within a short time, they used their training and expertise to create a staging base for combat forces deploying in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
"We are glad to have most of them home again, and our thoughts and prayers go with those CRG members still deployed downrange."
О как, не прошло и 70 лет.Training is crucial first step in success
by Capt. Robert Holdsworth
786th Security Forces Squadron
Base defence training can make or break a unit during wartime. Without it, U.S. Air Force forces could find themselves unable to accomplish their mission when threatened by enemies on the ground.
This fact was proven during World War II when German forces seized Maleme airfield on the island of Crete from the British Royal Air Force, giving the Germans a foothold from which to impact the Allied war effort in the Mediterranean and North Africa.
A small German force defeated a much larger corps of RAF troops simply because the airmen were untrained in base defence. The attack demonstrated the importance of having trained people for the protection of airfields.
This defeat led Prime Minister Winston Churchill to declare "all airmen are to be armed and trained, ready to fight and die in defence of their airfields; every airfield should be the stronghold of fighting air-ground men, and not the abode of uniformed civilians in the prime of life protected by a detachment of soldiers."
The RAF implemented Churchill's directive by instituting weapons and security training for all RAF personnel.
At the same time the RAF recognized the need for a highly trained force of base defence "professionals" whose primary mission would be to defend against the threat of indirect fire and penetrating attacks launched from the surface to air missile and mortar "footprint" outside RAF bases.
These troops, known as the RAF Regiment, would serve as the RAF's dedicated base defence force. To free the RAF Regiment to operate off the installation, RAF support personnel would have to provide security for their own work areas inside the perimeter Thus the RAF Regiment was handed its secondary mission -- to provide base defence training for the rest of the RAF.
Today, the U.S. Air Force is beginning to emulate the RAF Regiment's base defence concept of operations by creating dedicated air base defence units such as the 86th Contingency Response Group. These units are specifically organized, trained and equipped to open and defend airfields for follow-on Air Expeditionary Forces, and provide base defence and force protection training for combat support units from joint and combined forces.
Training individual airmen to provide security for themselves and their airfields, like our RAF counterparts, will enhance the security forces' ability to prevent enemy attacks by focusing their training, and their weight of effort, away from the base interior and into the tactical area of responsibility. Once support personnel can man interior guard posts and checkpoints, force protection will truly start with the individual and not with these security forces.
Today's AEF concept demands leaders place more emphasis on training requirements for deployments such as cargo preparation, weapons qualifications, NBC training, field hygiene, and physical fitness in order to ensure that members arrive with the skills and abilities needed to continue their mission and project airpower to support our national objectives.
Call USAFE's Force Protection and Base Defence Regional Training Centre at 496-7400 for training opportunities in preparation for deployments or to schedule classroom instruction or field training exercises.
