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Security Forces practice urban combat

  • Published
  • By Maj. David Kurle
  • 455 AEW public affairs
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan --  Deployed Airmen, distributing humanitarian supplies, are taken hostage by enemy forces while visiting an Afghan village. It’s now up to the accompanying squad of security forces to rescue the Airmen and eliminate the bad guys. 

This is the scenario members of the 455th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron were exercising here May 9, in the Army’s Military Operations in Urban Terrain facility.
The facility is a custom-made training facility, designed to resemble a typical Afghan village, complete with buildings made from mud. 

Inside is a collection of high-tech cameras, video recorders, speakers and mannequins that move on swivels to simulate terrorists hiding inside the structure. 

Security forces move through the structure, shooting special rounds called ultimate training munitions, which mark the target with colored powder. The whole facility is run from a computerized control room by a Soldier, who is an expert in this type of warfare. 

“Every single camera can record for training purposes and provides immediate feedback,” said Tech. Sgt. Edward Nin, 455th ESFS training non-commissioned officer in charge, deployed from Beale Air Force Base, Calif. “The most important
thing about training is giving the troops accurate and immediate feed back.” 

“This career field is not just sitting in shacks guarding gates any more,” said Tech. Sgt. Robert Taverna, the squadron’s patrol leader and an Air Force reservist deployed
here from McGuire Air Force Base, N.J. “Before Sept. 11, we basically had specialized units that would go to a bare-bones base and provide security. Now, the whole security forces career field is doing that.” 

Part of Sergeant Taverna’s job is to train security forces Airmen here in the fine art of urban combat utilizing the MOUT. All of the security forces have been through the
urban combat training, but not in a facility that resembled an Afghan village.
 
“You can’t get anything like this in the States,” said Staff Sgt. Jack D. Humphrey, 455th ESFS member, and a deployed reservist from McGuire AFB, N.J. “This is exactly
how it is outside (the wire).” 

The security forces run the exercises in teams of four to five, making their tactical approaches and entrances to each building, with team members supporting one another, wary for an attack from any possible direction, including above or
below them. There are a number of trap doors on the floor of the facility. 

Tech. Sgt. Daniel Hicks led his squad of Senior Airman Charles J. Coles, Senior Airman Victor A. Morales and Airman 1st Class Erika L. Asbury, all deployed here from Eglin Air
Force Base, Fla., through all three sections of the MOUT facility while security forces instructors observed, offered advice and pointed out what the team did right. 

The key elements of this type of warfare is coordinating the movement of the team, communication between squad members, teamwork and trust in each other, according to Sergeant Hicks. 

“Trust is the big factor because we’re relying on every member to watch each others’ backs,” he said. “Communication is also key because someone may see something and they need to let each team member know about a possible threat.” 

Sergeant Hicks’ team all agreed that stairways are an especially critical part of clearing any building. 

Any time they are firing from an elevated position, the enemy has the advantage because they have more cover than us, the targets, Airman Coles said. 

Even though the security forces Airmen here hope they never have to put this training to use, the possibility that they might have to is very real as they travel outside the wire accompanying other Airmen in missions off the base. 

The MOUT facility is an invaluable training aid to prepare security forces for any eventuality, according to Sergeant Nin. 

“Even though they’ve gone through the war training center, they haven’t done it together because everyone’s from eight different bases,” he said. “They need this training together to operate and flow as a team.”