Ready to deploy: 509th EOD, SFS complete Joint Service training

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Jason Barebo
  • 590th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
WHITEMAN AFB, Mo. --  With the sun setting in the distance, a UH-60 Blackhawk took flight from Whiteman's north ramp area toward the Cobra site during a week-long joint aerial training scenario.

Under the guise of night, the fully loaded helicopter, provided by the Missouri Army National Guard in Fort Leonard Wood, descended to land in a grassy clearing, throwing fresh cut clippings into the air.

With wheels on the ground, 11 members of the 509th Security Forces Squadron, to include a K-9 unit, exited the "belly of the beast" and immediately laid prone and prepared to defend against possible enemy attack.

As the Blackhawk rose from the ground, rotor blades cutting loudly through the warm night air, the Security Forces team stood and fanned out to secure the area. The forward team, including the K-9 unit, moved ahead to search the area for any improvised explosive devices intelligence reported to be in the area.

With everything secure, the K-9 unit moved up to sniff for IEDs.

A quick search conducted by a handler and his dog identified at least one IED buried in the sand. Upon the discovery, the security team evacuated the area to get clear of any possible explosion.

Meanwhile, the UH-60 had returned with a second load of combined Security Forces and an Explosive Ordnance Disposal team.

After a quick brief of what was found, the EOD team took the lead and headed toward the identified IED site.

With slow movements and steady heartbeats, the EOD team began to carefully unearth the IED and positively identify exactly what they were dealing with; a fabric lunch box with improvised explosives inside, a known tactic used by insurgents.

The lead member of the EOD team continued to sweep the area for any remaining IEDs. After discovering a few more, the EOD team leader used caution and training to move the explosives together for disposal.

Standard procedure for this instance called for a controlled explosion of the devices using EOD's own explosive devices, allowing them to control the situation.

The area was evacuated to the proper safe distance and the fuse set, giving the EOD lead member enough time to evacuate himself from the explosion area.

Four minutes later a flash of light and a deafening explosion indicated a successful detonation. EOD moved in to follow up and make sure everything went as planned, followed by an extraction of all forces at the predetermined Landing Zone.

The take off of the second helicopter load signaled the completion of the first training objective of the night.

While deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Capt. Bill Frost, 509th EOD commander, conducted more than 60 air response force insertion/extraction missions. These missions were being executed by EOD Airmen without formal training prior to entering the theater of operations, Captain Frost said.

"The first time I was on a mission like this, I was given 30 minutes of training before I was loaded up in a helicopter for insertion," Captain Frost said. "I had been on a helicopter before, but only as a passenger, not in an actual combat mission."

Coordinating with the 509th SFS, the K-9 unit and the 1-106 Aviation Assault Battalion, a UH-60 squadron from Fort Leonard Wood, Captain Frost was able to schedule and conduct a five-day training scenario to better prepare deploying Airmen for the EOD mission. This type of training is a first in the Air Force for EOD, SFS and K-9 units and Captain Frost hopes the training will become the standard.

The training began June 4 with an aircraft familiarization course on the UH-60 Blackhawk. Training participants were shown the correct way to load, unload and ride the helicopter as well as the danger areas and safety considerations. Immediately after, participants in the training practiced loading and unloading the helicopter both with and without their battle gear and equipment.

"During this training, we are going to crawl before we walk, and walk before we run," the captain said. Safety is a primary concern during all training exercises, he added.

The week of training, as well as being a first on its own, was full of other firsts.

"This is the first time a lot of our Airmen, both EOD and SFS, have conducted air insertion and extraction in a training environment," said Tech. Sgt. Jeremy Marksmeier, 509th SFS Kennel Master. "The opportunity to subject Airmen, as well as dogs, to this type of environment, in preparation for a deployed setting, is vital to ensuring the survivability of our forces.

"Humans and canine alike react differently when subjected to new experiences. The time to find out what that reaction is should not be in a hostile environment but in a training environment where one can learn from their mistakes and experiences."

Each day's training consisted of EOD, security forces and K-9 units performing three objectives, each simulating the need to search and secure a suspected area, cordon off the area to allow only mission essential personnel in, conduct a sweep of the area for IEDs, and properly dispose of them as the teams would in a real world situation. One day of training was conducted during night to add light discipline into the scenario.

Each objective required an air insert, cordon and search of the suspected area, and establishment of an inner security cordon. A K-9 unit would conduct an initial search of the area followed by EOD sweeping the area with mine detection equipment. All the evidence was gathered and photographed for intelligence purposes, if possible, and the teams were extracted by air.

"I believe that this training was the most effective and most meaningful I've gone through in years, " Staff Sgt. Kenneth Westrum, 509th EOD. "It not only made me feel more prepared for what I, as a team chief, encounter during a deployment, but has made me more confident in my team's abilities to adapt to a multitude of different situations outside the wire.

"As EOD technicians, it is crucial to be able to adapt to the continuously changing environment in which we work," Sergeant Westrum said. "And with the training we received, I believe we are more prepared for any mission we may encounter whether we arrive via Joint EOD convoy or Blackhawk."

"The training was a huge success," Captain Frost said. "I feel that everyone involved is now better prepared for what they may face in the future.

"Without the support of a multitude of Army and Air Force agencies to include the Missouri National Guard, this critical training would not have been possible. My gratitude goes out to all for taking their time and resources to make it possible."