363rd TRS Airmen hone combat skills during deployment exercise

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Michael Hitchcock
  • 363rd Training Squadron
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  In the spirit of the changing times in the Air Force, members of the 363rd Training Squadron took the first step to better prepare today's technical-training Airmen for real-world deployments tomorrow.

"With the knowledge that a good number of our Airmen will deploy within the first year of arriving at their first duty station, we feel that further military training is needed," said Maj. Carlos Dalmau, 363rd TRS commander.

Military Training Leaders from the squadron presented the idea to take the Airmen in Training on a 3-mile march to the 381st TRS medical readiness training area just east of Sheppard. Staff Sgt. Sean O'Neill, an MTL in the squadron, said the purpose of the exercise was to conduct training outlined in Air Force Manual 10-100.

For a more realistic environment, the Airmen were outfitted with new training tools: a Kevlar vest and helmets.

Major Dalmau said the exercise provided warrior-type training that Airmen haven't participated in since arriving at Sheppard.

"The only experience they have received to this point was at basic training," he said. "We want to give them a refresher and perhaps go a step further."

Airman 1st Class Justin Baker agreed with his squadron commander.

"It refreshed my memory on skills taught at (basic training)," he said. "I especially enjoyed the obstacle course and being able to get dirty."

The use of the Kevlar vest and helmets are not new to the Airmen of 363rd TRS. Being the first and only squadron on Sheppard to acquire these items for training purposes, the intent is to drive home the point of the warrior ethos mentality.

But, this exercise wasn't the first opportunity for the squadron to don their new gear. In June, Airmen in Training put on the Kevlar in a 24-hour exercise, including a physical readiness training evaluation.

The success of the most recent exercise was also due to the support of the 381st TRS, which not only supplied the training area and materials, but three instructors. For the next few hours, Airmen were trained on self-aid buddy care, how to load and unload wounded personnel from a helicopter and transport litters through an obstacle course.

Once the classroom portion was over, the Airmen put their instructions to work with a hands-on portion of training.


Airman 1st Class Ana Costello said it was a nice break from technical training to learn different skills that would be needed in a deployed environment.

"I enjoyed the event tremendously," she said. "(I feel) better prepared in casualty movement."

"The winds of change are long here and we (at Sheppard) have the power and responsibility to fit and train these young heroes so they can become productive combat ready assets once they reach their first duty stations," Maj. Dalmau said. "By challenging our Airmen with various deployment exercises and other methods of combat-skills oriented training, (this) not only sets the mind set, but helps continue fostering the warrior spirit and help them understand the transition from being in garrison to a deployed state of mind."