Duke security forces train in Big Sky country

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Sam King
  • 919th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
CAMP GUERNSEY, Wyo. --  Members of the 919th Special Operations Wing Security Forces Squadron ate, slept, trained and lived under the big skies and rolling plains of the West for most of the month of August.

More than 20 Airmen from the unit ventured Northwest to serve as the opposing force for other Reserve security forces units participating in a field training exercise.  All of the 919th's security forces have gone through similar training as the deployed or occupying force, but here they were required to think and act as if on the opposite side of the conflict.

It's a real change in mentality," said Senior Airman Aaron Bradley.  "We are trained on how to keep the base secure, but now our job is to find the weaknesses and get in."

While there, the Airmen lived in the make-shift villages constructed out of large storage containers.  Many grew out their facial hair and wore light, cultural garb to appear more like remote Middle Eastern villagers. 

Their roles were to interact with the deployed force as local merchants, village elders, and of course, militants.  Through those interactions, the 919th Airmen would try to glean any kind of helpful information about the deployed unit that could be used against them later.  

The Airmen they faced were two Colorado-based Reserve security forces units:  The 310th and 710th Security Forces Squadrons from Schriever and Buckley Air Force Bases. 

"The 919th was the optimal choice for this key role," said Master Sgt. Casey Karins, the NCO-in-charge of training for the 710th SFS.  "The exercise scenario focused on counter-insurgency and unconventional warfare.  Their training and expertise was clearly evident in the attention to detail they brought to the exercise." 

The 310th and 710th's deployed force encountered constant spying, small arms fire, ambushes, strategic interactions and even a surveillance drone buzzing over their heads.  Karins praised the 919th's role-playing abilities saying that reinforcing good local/military interactions and behaviors play a critical part in security forces goals in the training.

"These interactions served to sway the opinion of the local populace for or against our presence, which led to increased or decreased flows of actionable intelligence to our teams," he said.

These constant interactions and scenarios throughout the exercise are created to mimic possible relations and dealings with an actual deployed location.

"When you go down range, this is what you're going to see," said Staff Sgt. Jared Lawrence, a 919th role-player, who sported a full red beard and floppy hat.  "The more training on it you have at home, the more prepared you will be when it's real."

When looking to move his unit's annual training away from "home," Maj. Michael McGee, the 919th's commander who had been here multiple times, saw a rare opportunity with this exercise that only his special operators could fulfill.

"We're the only special operations security forces unit in the Air Force Reserve," said the combat aviation advisor.  "We perform above and beyond the standard security forces units because of our unique mission set.  With our special operations training and experience, we could really have an impact on helping these other units as opposing forces.  We can push these units to their limits, find their weaknesses and ultimately help them to fix those vulnerabilities."

Karin added the 919th elevated the quality of the training and made them "earn" each and every win and event hand them a few losses, a rarity in this type of training.

"Too often in security forces exercises, we gear our training to the tune of "so long as the team puts in a bit of effort, they will always win," said Karins.  "We wanted to flip that script with this.  We don't learn much from winning, or at a maximum, winning serves to reinforce good processes and behaviors where losing causes us to reevaluate the way we do business, thereby catalyzing improvement and change."

Along with "the opposite side of the fence" training, the Airmen were also in a very different environment than their home base.  The Airmen left sand and dense forests of Northwest Florida for giant rock formations and empty hills. The landscape provided new experiences for many who'd never seen the vastness of the American West.  Wild rabbits were constantly bounding about the storage container village and antelope commonly grazed on a nearby ridge.  Throughout the exercise, the convoy units had to stop along the dusty, bumpy pathways as cattle either blocked or crossed in front of the vehicles.

"It's a very unique part of the country," said Lawrence.  "That in itself tests us just by being somewhere different."

Senior Airman Amanda Smith, 919th SOSFS role-player, said the wilderness and camping out with her Reserve family was her favorite part of the two-week experience.

"We watched the sun go down over the mountains and woke up every morning to the beautiful views here," said the two-year reservist.  "I loved being out here, hearing the cows, seeing the wildlife and just being around nature."

However, the wildlife and vistas did not distract the 919th Airmen from helping to improve the other security forces units.

"Having an opportunity to work with special operators gave our personnel a different viewpoint and an understanding of how that agile and adaptable mentality can be leveraged to benefit future operations and shape unit SOPs (operating procedures) and TTPs," said Karins.