Airmen celebrate heritage during 321 Day

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Gustavo Gonzalez
  • 621st Contingency Response Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  Airmen from the 321st Contingency Response Squadron got together to celebrate 321st Day. More than 100 Airmen and their families attended 321 Day March 21, here, as a chance for Airmen from the squadron to build unit cohesion.

“It’s our inauguration day,” said Lt. Col. Michael Durband, 321st CRS commander. “Today is all about coming out to celebrate everything that is 3-2-1 as far as squadron heritage and pride. We’re bringing the folks together to help celebrate our accomplishments over the past year and to build comradery.”

The day began with an early morning ruck march. Then the Airmen competed in multiple competitive games. They closed the festivities with a picnic where all families were invited to share in family games.

“It’s a great opportunity to bond with our squadron,” said Senior Airman Joshua Lopez, 321st CRS vehicle maintainer. “I think it’s essential to get to know each other and connect with your unit.”

According to Durband, over the last year the 321st CRS was on alert status for eight months. During alert, the unit must maintain readiness to deploy anywhere in the world within a 12-hour notice. Additionally, the CRS has been a part of every major contingency response operation the 621st Contingency Response Wing has conducted since the CRS was created two years ago.

In 2015, the 321st CRS was awarded the Air Force’s team of the year for their work in Al Taqaddum, Iraq. They followed that up by deploying Airmen to Haiti for Hurricane Matthew, then to Cameroon, twice back to Iraq, and most recently returned from a deployment in Southwest Asia.

“We’re very good at our mission set, so we take training very seriously,” Durband said. “When folks go out the door and they want expertise and an experienced team, they come to the 321st CRS.”

According to Senior Airman Philip Jean-Batiste, 321st CRS security forces member, the experience he is receiving in the 321st CRS will help him along in his career.

“I was in my last unit for three years and I never deployed anywhere,” he said. “Since I came to the 321st CRS over year ago, I’ve been to five different places already. There’s a lot of great opportunities in the 321st CRS and it’s a great experience overall.”

The 321st CRS is one of four CRSs in the 621st Contingency Response Wing. The CRW is highly-specialized in training and rapidly deploying personnel to quickly open airfields and establish, expand, sustain, and coordinate air mobility operations. The CRSs perform aircraft quick-turn maintenance, airfield management, passenger and cargo movement, and command and control of personnel, aircraft, supplies, threat assessment, force protection, air traffic control, weather, airfield systems maintenance, finance and contracting.

Today, more than ever, the Air Force is supporting mobility operations all over the globe. Operations such as Inherent Resolve in Iraq, United Assistance in Africa, Afghanistan retrograde operations and humanitarian assistance deployments such as, Hurricane Katrina and the Haiti and Pakistan Earthquake relief operations are tributes to the 621st CRW's enduring capabilities and readiness to provide mission support whenever and wherever the requirement exists.