JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. –
Virginia National Guard Airmen assigned to the 192nd Security Forces Squadron conducted and participated in a small team, combat arms live-fire exercise June 23, 2018, at Fort Eustis, Virginia. The Airmen trained in a simulated urban environment using non-lethal ammunition to achieve a high level of realism in their training.
“The training we’re conducting today is called shoot, move, communicate,” said Staff Sgt. Charles Lewis, 192nd SFS fire team leader. “This training is important to me because you could find yourself in a situation downrange where you have to shoot, move and communicate with your wingman to eliminate a threat if one is forced upon you.”
The training included threat-engagement techniques, fire team tactical movements and communication. The Airmen received and returned fire using aluminum-cased plastic rounds with a colored detergent to determine where a target or person was hit. The unconventional face masks are a safety measure unique to this kind of simulation ammunition scenario. The training also added some close-quarter combat scenarios to see how the teams communicated in tight spaces with unknown threats around the corner.
“The importance of this training for us, as security forces members, is that it prepares us for our real world mission,” said Tech. Sgt. Alfred Hill II, 192nd SFS training NCO in charge. “The training also reiterates proper individual skills while demonstrating safe/correct weapons handling and proper movement [as well as] use of cover and communication skills while engaging targets.”
As the largest career field in the Air Force, it’s the job of security forces to protect, defend and fight. They are responsible for missile security, defending air bases around the globe, law enforcement on those bases, combat arms and handling military working dogs.