bark collar: U.S. Air Force Shifts Mindset To Counter New Threats In Iraq And Afghanistan
Robert Riggs
Reporting
(CBS 11 News) LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, SAN ANTONIO Bursts of machine-gun fire and mortar explosions erupt as a mock U.S. Air Force base comes under attack by insurgents. Future airmen take up defensive positions. A steel-jawed training instructor draws a bead on a trainee who hesitates. The instructor comes nose-to-nose with the trainee and shoots point blank with a verbal barrage, "Do you have a death wish? Then fire back!"
The training scenario playing out at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas marks one of the biggest cultural shifts in the service's fifty-nine year history. The Air Force overhauled its six and one-half week basic military training course to instill a "warrior spirit" worthy of Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie, who fought heroically a few miles north of here at the Alamo. Colonel Gina Grosso, commander of the 737th Training Group, started instituting the changes last November, "I think no airmen can take for granted who is going to go into harm's way. In the global war on terror you don't know who the enemy is, you don't know where they are going to be."
Insurgent tactics and strained Army manpower in Iraq and Afghanistan brought about the changes. Pilots and their rescuers used to be the only Air Force personnel that faced combat. Airmen grew accustomed to clean sheets and hot meals far removed from the battle at rear air bases. Now, more than five thousand airmen drive convoys and conduct patrols outside their air bases. "There's no longer a huge force between us and the bad guys. Our airmen were encountering missions that they were not really prepared for. They just didn't have the comfort and familiarity with the M-16.", says Chief Master Sergeant Steve Sargent, who is the Superintendent of Basic Training.
The M-16 is my best friend
The first weeks of training used to be heavy on the history of air power and the proper way to fold socks, shirts, and shorts. Trainees didn't touch a rifle until the fifth week. Now, the Air Force issues a newly designed M16A2 rifle trainer on the first day of training. Nineteen-year-old Laura Olson of Knoxville, Tennessee, who plans to be a nurse, realizes that she may likely practice at a forward operating base under fire. "I think it's probably good experience at least to get use to it and be comfortable with it before they get out on the front lines," Olson explains. The trainer rifle is identical to the real one in every aspect except that it can't be fired. Air Force blue colored paint on the rifle's stock and hand guards signify that it is a trainer. Trainees practice until they can break it down within two minutes and reassemble the rifle just as quickly. There is a proposal to add 9mm handgun training to the course.
Field Training
The fourth week of training moves from air-conditioned dorms to tents, turned into ovens by the merciless Texas' heat. Many of the trainees have never slept outdoors. They face the wrath of fire ants, wasps, rattlesnakes, and training instructors barking orders at decibel rattling levels.
Barrel-chested Master Sergeant Robert Hembree hovers over trainees as they belly crawl like alligators for two-hundred yards beneath simulated gun fire and razor wire. Hembree is the picture of perfection in neatly pressed and creased fatigues, spit polished combat boots, a Smokey-the-Bear style campaign hat shading his eyes, and not a single bead of sweat in sight. He towers over grunting and groaning trainees, their faces caked with sand and sweat. Some are harshly reminded not to stick the muzzle in the sand and not to point the M-16 at their buddy or "wingman" crawling beside them. Hembree pounces when a trainee falls back, "Don't quit" No pain! No pain! Don't forget your wingman!" A trainee grabs the straggler by the back of his collar and begins dragging him forward. "A lot of the stuff we do focuses on leadership abilities and teamwork. You've got to have the team work where somebody falls, the other one has to pick it up. You have to be able to recover and help your teammate. Leave no man behind," says Hembree.
The new basic training prepares airmen for the realities of an Air Expeditionary Force by sending a message that you are either deployed or preparing to deploy. Trainees saddled with sixty-pound duffel bags go through a mock mobility line. Training instructors bark out the list of required contents such as the prescribed three pairs of wool socks. When a trainee fumbles his bag because of missing items an instructor strikes, "Stop! Stop! You are not having a very good day! You think and then you do! Understand? Fix it!" The drills are meant to put the trainees under stress in a controlled situation.
The trainees watch a videotaped deployment briefing that tells them about their upcoming mission; they board buses; get issued combat gear, M-16s, MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat), just as if they were headed overseas. Twenty-year old trainee Erica Grotty of Portland who is the mother of a fifteen-month-old daughter says, "It was very frightening at first, the idea that I would most likely be deployed. But every day that I'm here I'm learning so many skills. It's just making me feel a lot more comfortable about going and having the confidence that when I come back I will walk off that plane."
The Air Force plans to add two weeks to its basic military training by October 2007. It would allow more time for warrior skills and to teach battlefield first aid. It's waiting on Congress to approve twenty-five million dollars for more facilities, including firing ranges.
On another corner of the sprawling base, seven hundred trainees in dress uniforms smartly march in formation for their coining ceremony. The ceremony marks the transition from trainee to airmen. Senior Master Sergeant Larry Hetrick, a twenty-two-year veteran and training instructor, proudly presents a coin to his twenty-one-year-old son Albert. The core values of the Air Force are cast on the coin: integrity first; service before self'; and excellence in all we do. Colonel Grasso stresses to new trainees on the first day that the profession of arms must live by those core values
Back in the field, trainees take a brief break from combat training that started before dawn. With machine-gun speed, Staff Sergeant Jason Bowman rattles off challenges to his trainees, "You're tired right now! You're feeling it right now! Now that you are out of breath! Now that you are hot! Now that you are sweaty! Now that you are tired! Can you do it now?" The trainees shout their reply in unison, "Yes sir!” Their response exemplifies the warrior spirit that the Air Force expects to help keep its airmen alive on the frontlines.
(CBS 11 News)
Reporting
(CBS 11 News) LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, SAN ANTONIO Bursts of machine-gun fire and mortar explosions erupt as a mock U.S. Air Force base comes under attack by insurgents. Future airmen take up defensive positions. A steel-jawed training instructor draws a bead on a trainee who hesitates. The instructor comes nose-to-nose with the trainee and shoots point blank with a verbal barrage, "Do you have a death wish? Then fire back!"
The training scenario playing out at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas marks one of the biggest cultural shifts in the service's fifty-nine year history. The Air Force overhauled its six and one-half week basic military training course to instill a "warrior spirit" worthy of Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie, who fought heroically a few miles north of here at the Alamo. Colonel Gina Grosso, commander of the 737th Training Group, started instituting the changes last November, "I think no airmen can take for granted who is going to go into harm's way. In the global war on terror you don't know who the enemy is, you don't know where they are going to be."
Insurgent tactics and strained Army manpower in Iraq and Afghanistan brought about the changes. Pilots and their rescuers used to be the only Air Force personnel that faced combat. Airmen grew accustomed to clean sheets and hot meals far removed from the battle at rear air bases. Now, more than five thousand airmen drive convoys and conduct patrols outside their air bases. "There's no longer a huge force between us and the bad guys. Our airmen were encountering missions that they were not really prepared for. They just didn't have the comfort and familiarity with the M-16.", says Chief Master Sergeant Steve Sargent, who is the Superintendent of Basic Training.
The M-16 is my best friend
The first weeks of training used to be heavy on the history of air power and the proper way to fold socks, shirts, and shorts. Trainees didn't touch a rifle until the fifth week. Now, the Air Force issues a newly designed M16A2 rifle trainer on the first day of training. Nineteen-year-old Laura Olson of Knoxville, Tennessee, who plans to be a nurse, realizes that she may likely practice at a forward operating base under fire. "I think it's probably good experience at least to get use to it and be comfortable with it before they get out on the front lines," Olson explains. The trainer rifle is identical to the real one in every aspect except that it can't be fired. Air Force blue colored paint on the rifle's stock and hand guards signify that it is a trainer. Trainees practice until they can break it down within two minutes and reassemble the rifle just as quickly. There is a proposal to add 9mm handgun training to the course.
Field Training
The fourth week of training moves from air-conditioned dorms to tents, turned into ovens by the merciless Texas' heat. Many of the trainees have never slept outdoors. They face the wrath of fire ants, wasps, rattlesnakes, and training instructors barking orders at decibel rattling levels.
Barrel-chested Master Sergeant Robert Hembree hovers over trainees as they belly crawl like alligators for two-hundred yards beneath simulated gun fire and razor wire. Hembree is the picture of perfection in neatly pressed and creased fatigues, spit polished combat boots, a Smokey-the-Bear style campaign hat shading his eyes, and not a single bead of sweat in sight. He towers over grunting and groaning trainees, their faces caked with sand and sweat. Some are harshly reminded not to stick the muzzle in the sand and not to point the M-16 at their buddy or "wingman" crawling beside them. Hembree pounces when a trainee falls back, "Don't quit" No pain! No pain! Don't forget your wingman!" A trainee grabs the straggler by the back of his collar and begins dragging him forward. "A lot of the stuff we do focuses on leadership abilities and teamwork. You've got to have the team work where somebody falls, the other one has to pick it up. You have to be able to recover and help your teammate. Leave no man behind," says Hembree.
The new basic training prepares airmen for the realities of an Air Expeditionary Force by sending a message that you are either deployed or preparing to deploy. Trainees saddled with sixty-pound duffel bags go through a mock mobility line. Training instructors bark out the list of required contents such as the prescribed three pairs of wool socks. When a trainee fumbles his bag because of missing items an instructor strikes, "Stop! Stop! You are not having a very good day! You think and then you do! Understand? Fix it!" The drills are meant to put the trainees under stress in a controlled situation.
The trainees watch a videotaped deployment briefing that tells them about their upcoming mission; they board buses; get issued combat gear, M-16s, MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat), just as if they were headed overseas. Twenty-year old trainee Erica Grotty of Portland who is the mother of a fifteen-month-old daughter says, "It was very frightening at first, the idea that I would most likely be deployed. But every day that I'm here I'm learning so many skills. It's just making me feel a lot more comfortable about going and having the confidence that when I come back I will walk off that plane."
The Air Force plans to add two weeks to its basic military training by October 2007. It would allow more time for warrior skills and to teach battlefield first aid. It's waiting on Congress to approve twenty-five million dollars for more facilities, including firing ranges.
On another corner of the sprawling base, seven hundred trainees in dress uniforms smartly march in formation for their coining ceremony. The ceremony marks the transition from trainee to airmen. Senior Master Sergeant Larry Hetrick, a twenty-two-year veteran and training instructor, proudly presents a coin to his twenty-one-year-old son Albert. The core values of the Air Force are cast on the coin: integrity first; service before self'; and excellence in all we do. Colonel Grasso stresses to new trainees on the first day that the profession of arms must live by those core values
Back in the field, trainees take a brief break from combat training that started before dawn. With machine-gun speed, Staff Sergeant Jason Bowman rattles off challenges to his trainees, "You're tired right now! You're feeling it right now! Now that you are out of breath! Now that you are hot! Now that you are sweaty! Now that you are tired! Can you do it now?" The trainees shout their reply in unison, "Yes sir!” Their response exemplifies the warrior spirit that the Air Force expects to help keep its airmen alive on the frontlines.
(CBS 11 News)
