MHAFB Airmen exercise deployment readiness

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Hailey Bivens
  • 366th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
Gunfighter Airmen train-year round, honing and perfecting their skills in their respective career fields. Many of these Airmen are fresh out of technical training and are ready to face any new challenges that may fall before them.

In-depth training that Airmen receive here improves baseline skills learned in technical training and enables them to be more effective contributors to the mission down-range.

The 366th Civil Engineer Squadron, Logistic Readiness Squadron, Force Support Squadron, and Communications Squadron conducted a deployment exercise in order to give their Airmen more exposure to the real-world scenarios they may encounter in a deployed environment.

Airman 1st Class Daniel Salvador, 366th LRS vehicle operator, was among the Airmen who had never participated in this kind of down-range simulation before.

“These kinds of exercises are more extensive than what we did in technical training and the goal is to help us understand our role in getting Strike Eagles in the sky,” Salvador explained. “It’s going to give us confidence in knowing what we can expect in a deployed environment.”

One item the Airmen trained on was proper wear of their Mission Oriented Protective Posture gear. This gear is a key part of an Airman’s safety in a deployed environment.

“The gear is taxing on the body and [the Airmen] have to be able to perform their duties while wearing it,” explained Tech. Sgt. Benita Mahollan, 366th CES NCO in charge of emergency management. “They need to experience those obstacles before going down-range.”

They say “practice makes perfect,” and for Airmen who are patiently waiting for their turn to put boots on the ground, this training gets them one step closer to being fully ready to deploy.

“I’m absorbing this information so when it’s my turn to deploy I will be ready and confident to complete any task,” Salvador said. “Being ‘outside the wire is’ an honorable place to be, and giving back to my country by being trusted to complete the down-range mission would be such a humbling experience.”