Contingency Response Airmen complete proof of concept course

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Chris Powell
  • 421st Combat Training Squadron
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  More than 20 contingency response Airmen from three major commands recently arrived at the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center here to help validate the new Field-Craft Contingency Response course.

The 14-day training course was designed to improve how Contingency Response Airmen are trained in air base opening combat skills. The course was run by the 421st Combat Training Squadron's Expeditionary Operations Flight and included Contingency Response-related classroom and hands-on learning capped off with a field training exercise. The course included night driving, live fire with multiple weapon systems, active-shooter training, tactics, use-of-force and rules-of-engagement classes, to name a few.

Once the course is certified  by higher headquarters and Community College of the Air Force officials, it will provide incoming Contingency Response Airmen with the majority of their Air Force instruction-required training prior to initial inprocessing with their unit, enabling them to focus on learning how their job functions within a CR unit, said Denese Bittner, a member of the flight.

"I think (this course is) going to be very beneficial to our inbound personnel and new Airmen coming into the Contingency Response world and also to those individuals who have been in the CR world who haven't had the opportunity to 'real-world' deploy into an austere environment," said Master Sgt. David Hardy, with the 621st Contingency Response Wing. "When brand new individuals come into the Air Force, not only do they have to learn the CR responsibilities, they have to learn their responsibilities in their individual career field, so this course benefits both parties and enables Contingency Response units to deploy personnel more expediently."

The group of students included experienced Contingency Response members and those who were new to the Air Force and to the Contingency Response mission.

"This course gave me the basics of everything the Contingency Response (community) does, including base defense and how to open up a base, so when I deploy, I'll know what to do," said Airman Kelly Strickland, assigned to the 621st CRW. "Coming out of tech school, I knew how to be a basic aerial porter but coming out of this course, I think I'll be just as helpful as everyone else when I go out and need to open up a base and defend it."

Once the students completed the classroom and hands-on  portions of the course, they took part in a field-training exercise at Lakehurst Naval Air Station, where they were tasked with setting up a bare base and defending it from small-arms fire, improvised explosive devices and other insurgent attacks.

"The FTX was amazing because that's when we put everything together, from the (communication), to the (defensive fighting position) building to the basic firefighting to how to interact with the locals," Strickland said. "It's putting it all together to figure out how to do it all when you get out there."

After completing the course, each participant was asked to draw from their real-world experiences and complete an end-of-course survey, detailing what they found beneficial and what they felt could be improved upon.

"We're taking that information and now we're building on it to make it a better class," Bittner said. "Once we finish finalizing the material, we'll submit it to become a (Community College of the Air Force) certified course, so when the individuals come, they get CCAF credit for it."

The first certified Field-Craft Contingency Response course is targeted to take place in the spring 2016.