Photo By Capt. Daniel Phelps | Master Sgt. Mark Ansani, 911th Force Support Squadron, Pittsburgh, reacts to gun-fire...... read more read more
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DOBBINS AIR RESERVE BASE, Ga. - It was a foggy morning and daylight was beginning to break the horizon. All was silent but the crunching of the ground underneath combat boots and morning birds singing their song, when all of a sudden gun-fire pierced the serenity and the Airmen from the 911th Force Support Squadron took to the ground with their rifles at ready.
This was the first scenario during day one of the Force Support Silver Flag Readiness Challenge at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia for the 911th FSS. The challenge consisted of teams competing against each other in nine different events ranging from following a convoy, building tents, fixing Babington burners, cooking meals, planning lodging, building a base from scratch, driving a forklift and conducting a scavenger hunt.
“The Readiness Challenge has been an active Civil Engineer/Services event dating as far back as 1986,” said Senior Master Sgt. Shawn Davis, 622nd Civil Engineer Group Force Support Silver Flag commandant.
In this scenario, called OPERATION Everybody Panic, the Airmen were inserted with a camp and instructed to follow a convoy, said Davis.
Teams were tasked with engaging targets, providing care under fire, identifying unexploded ordnances and improvised explosive devices, describing and providing their location on a grid, low and high crawling, and transporting remains.
“Everybody Panic was hands down the best part of this exercise,” said Senior Airman Tyler Wright, 911th FSS. “In some ways it was a lot like basic, only without the shock and freak out from being new to the military.”
Everybody Panic also came as surprise to many of the Airmen.
“I didn’t come here expecting to march, crawl, shoot or carry bodies under fire,” Wright added.
The Readiness Challenge allowed a lot of Airmen to step outside of what they usually do at home station, described Tech. Sgt. Anthony Chavez, 911th FSS.
“You can’t anticipate things here,” Chavez explained. “We had to adapt and stay on our toes.”
“I’m usually working in the office as a personnelist, so the tent building for me was a challenge,” Chavez said. “I don’t usually do that.”
There are four Silver Flag schools in the Air Force – Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida; Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ramstein Air Base, Germany and Anderson Air Base, Guam. Three of the four are CE schools.
“Dobbins is the only one specifically designed for Force Support career fields,” said Davis. “In 2014, we provided over 70 percent of the available Force Support Silver Flag training in the Air Force. That year was record breaking year for this schoolhouse. We provided training to over 836 Air Force students.”
At the end of the exercise, scores were added together to crown the winner of the competition.
About 70 Airmen on teams from Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado; the 445th FSS from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio; the 908th FSS from Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama; the 910th FSS from Youngstown Air Reserve Base, Ohio; the 911th FSS from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and the 934th FSS from Minneapolis – St. Paul, Minnesota, competed in the event.
The overall winner of the Readiness Challenge was the 445th FSS.
“Silver Flag really brought us together and made us work as a team,” said Wright. “It showed us how prepared we are for deployments and we had to work together to identify potential problems.”
“This is great for every unit,” added Chavez. “It lets you realize your strengths and weaknesses.”
| Date Taken: | 03.23.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 03.23.2015 14:54 |
| Story ID: | 157801 |
| Location: | DOBBINS AIR RESERVE BASE, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 300 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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