Rock Solid Warrior: Airman 1st Class Richard Peart

Published April 18, 2013
386th Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Rank/First & Last Name: Airman 1st Class Richard Peart

Deployed Unit: 386 Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron

Duty Title: Force Protection, Third Country National escort

Home unit/station: 341 Comptroller Squadron, Malmstrom AFB, Montana.

Family's military heritage: My grandfather served six years in the Marine Corps. My uncle currently serves as a Major in the United States Air Force and my brother is in the Delayed Entry Program for the USAF, he leaves for Basic Military Training in May 2013.

What is your mission here?
To Prepare, Engage, and Defend. The way I carry this out is by providing escorts for TCNs as they perform various duties throughout the base. Keeping a watchful eye on them provides protection for fellow armed services members as well as base assets. We also serve as valuable eyes and ears for OSI to investigate threats from within.

What are some of the best parts of your mission?
Interacting with and learning about the TCNs and their heritage and taking part in a variety of jobs that Force Protection performs to contribute to base safety and security. Lastly building bridges between TCNs and US forces.

What are some of the challenges you face while conducting your mission, and how do you overcome them?
Some challenges are making sure their is no threat to our base personnel by making sure that there are eyes and ears on every single TCN at all times.

How does your job differ in a deployed environment vs. home base?
My job at my home base is Finance, so it's not very often that I get out from behind the desk and explore a different mission within the USAF. Working with airmen from many different jobs, I've developed more of a mission minded view, understanding how my job and other's job fits into the global USAF mission.

How many times have you deployed? This is my first deployment.

What makes this deployment unique?
This deployment is unique because for one, I am not performing my normal job as finance. I get to interact with airmen from different career fields as well as experience the different aspects of the AF. I also serve as one of the first lines of defense in protecting AF assets.

Why did you join the Air Force? I joined the AF for self-improvement, traveling, education, deploying, and to be a part of something bigger than myself. So far, its been great!