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Swapping Wrenches for Rifles

  • Published
  • By Senior Master Sgt. Gary J. Rihn
  • 455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan --  The alarm sounds, wrenches are instantly swapped for rifles, and dozens of aircraft maintainers run for their defensive fighting positions.

This scenario happens several times per month at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan.

Fortunately, everybody gathers peacefully 30 minutes later to debrief and to hear how well their reactions and actions would have worked had an enemy threat actually tried to breach their section of the flight line.

The 455th Expeditionary Maintenance Group has developed and fine-tuned their airfield defense program through exercises and scenarios that are always different. Squadron leadership drills their Airmen several times throughout the month to maintain vigilance and to remind everybody of the consequences that could result from letting their guard down.

"Airmen never know when to expect an exercise, which is a tactic practiced to mimic reality and to keep the maintainers 'on their toes', ready to react at a moment's notice. The enemy can strike at any time, and it is paramount that our exercises prepare Airman for exactly that," said U.S. Air Force Capt. Guillermo, 455th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron Maintenance Operations Officer.

The exercise program really blossomed after the 455th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, under the leadership of Capt. Glenn Bowersox, approached the maintainer group offering assistance and advice, with their guidance consequently improving the quality and reality of exercises ten-fold. The Security Forces defenders have a deep understanding of base defense techniques, and were eager to bolster the maintainers program. They now serve as an opposing force to the maintainers, and act as role players posing as insurgents. They use their background to help educate maintainers on force protection techniques, supplemented by shooting range time for maintainers to maintain proficiency and weapons handling skills with their assigned weapons.

"Our Airmen take the exercises very seriously and flawlessly demonstrate the Air Force core values. They place service before their own lives in order to protect the aircraft in which they have spent countless, sometimes frustrating hours repairing," said Torres.

Through the help of the Defenders, squadron leadership is now able to challenge their maintainers and provide a wide range of attack situations followed by in-depth, on the spot, feedback.

"When conducting an exercise, EMXG first reviews rules of engagement and SALUTE reporting. This serves as a muscle memory function should there be a real-world situation," said Torres.

After reviewing the rules and reporting instructions, security forces then assists the maintenance squadron leadership with scenario input, followed by a hot wash upon completion to explain how the maintainers could have handled situations differently or improved their defensive posture, resulting in a harder target next time.

"As maintainers, it is our mission to maintain and ensure the health of our aircraft. With this program, we posture our Airman to maintain aircraft health through defense against complex enemy threats. It is truly inspiring to see our men and women willing to react to a threat that that is outside their traditional skill set," said Torres.

He added, "Each and every one of our maintainers knows what their mission is, and they understand that the protection of these aircraft ensures the safety of our warfighters outside the wire; it is this knowledge that motivates our maintainers to take on such a critical mission. They have come to this deployment set to support these men and women, and they will make every effort to ensure that they are fully prepared and ready to do whatever it takes to guarantee this mission continues, so we do not fail our troops who are relying on our air support for protection."