AL UDEID AIR BASE, Qatar -- Firefighters, explosive ordnance disposal technicians and security forces airmen came together for an interagency training exercise at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar Oct. 27.
Within two minutes of the report of smoke security forces teams arrived on scene and set up 360-degree-security around the building.
“We were dispatched to a fire alarm and while we were in-route, we were informed of a potential male suspect who may have run into the building,” said Tech. Sgt. Derek Pollock, 379th Security Forces Squadron. “We set-up on the building and we saw smoke, the suspect was nowhere in sight so we contacted the fire department,” Pollock said.
Within a few minutes firefighters were on scene and worked quickly to put out the fire under the watchful eye of security forces.
Behind the protection of a concrete jersey barrier, two security forces airmen watched for any sign of movement, carefully scanning their sector.
“We were watching to see if someone would come out of the building,” Pollock said. “Shortly after the firefighters got on-scene, we heard an explosion and a suspect ran out behind us from a nearby warehouse.”
The suspect tried to exit the area by stealing a pick-up truck, but a security forces military working dog team quickly challenged him.
Step away from the vehicle, the MWD handler shouted.
The suspect refused. After two more commands to comply went unheeded, the suspect attempted to enter the truck. A MWD more than 200 feet away sprinted toward him and sank his teeth into his right arm, quickly taking him to the ground.
Moments later the suspect was in custody.
“He informed us of a second suspect in a nearby building to the east of us,” Pollock said.
A team of security forces airmen converged on the building and quickly apprehended the second suspect. After taking him into custody, they conducted a sweep of the building and found explosives.
The next call was to the 379th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal team. The team arrived on scene, assessed the situation and used a futuristic looking robot named F-6 to identify the exact location and type of devices present before EOD technicians removed them.
Master Sgt. Bradley Kline, 379th ECES EOD flight section chief, said there are many advantages to interagency training.
“Typically when we train, we train alone,” he said. “All the agencies that were involved in this exercise out here today at the same time; firefighters, security forces, EOD; adds a lot of realism.”
“It’s very important for all of us to train together and we’re trying to train together more often,” Kline said.
One area Kline said the exercise allowed responders to focus on was improving communication.
“Communication is often the biggest issue we have,” Kline said. “With this exercise we tried to smooth as much of that out as possible before we have to do this for real.”
Training is critical to readiness, said Senior Airman Christopher Gustafson, 379th ECES firefighter.
“Cops function in their own way, EOD has their own language and it’s important to come together and be able to identify any hiccups and speed bumps when we work together,” Gustafson said.
“We all function differently and have our own language,” he said. “Training is important so we can (all) stay up on our skillsets and everyone can work together efficiently.”