Airmen train to control visitations

Published Feb. 18, 2009
By Lisa Evans
Fort Dix Public Affairs staff

FORT DIX, N.J. -- "One team -- one fight. We're all here to do a mission," Capt. Donna Porter-Simmons declared during recent detainee operations training at Fort Dix. Minutes later she was in hand-to-hand combat, fighting through a haze of a mace-like spray to the face.

Captain Porter-Simmons commands the Air Force Combat Skills Training Alpha 6. Alpha 6 has been training at Fort Dix for several weeks and soon will deploy forward. There, the Airmen will work closely with the Army in a joint expeditionary mission involving detainee operations in Iraq. In this mission, Airmen will control visitors, families and friends while they visit detainees.

Alpha 6 is just one of many Air Force detachments that have trained at Fort Dix during the past few years. In true joint military service, one team -- one fight, all of the services have worked together and fought together in the Global War on Terrorism. The Navy, Coast Guard, Marines, and Air Force have all sent men and women to Iraq and Afghanistan to fight and rebuild alongside the Army.

In 16 training sites around the country, the Department of Defense detailed the Army as the lead trainers for combat skills. As the effort to rebuild Iraq and the war effort in Afghanistan continues, more demands are made to fill support operation positions with servicemembers from the Air Force and other services. Most of these positions are not directly combat-related, but all are in areas where combat is a possibility.

Cooperation in combat training has given all of the services greater joint service visibility and a better understanding of each other.

Lt. Col. Cliff Palmer of the Alpha 25 training team said, "I think this training gives all of us a sense of ability to handle situations we wouldn't usually be trained for."

Tech. Sgt. Gabriel Browning of Alpha 25 added, "(The training) gave me an appreciation for the Army and what they have been going through."

All of the servicemembers who have trained together have learned more about their sister services while maintaining their service pride.

"We are Airmen who bleed blue, not Army green. We are receiving training from the Army to hone our ground combat skills; there is no better Army in the world to train under, yet our newly-honed skills will enable us to be more ground combat effective Airmen," said Chief Master Sgt. Willie Graves, Jr.

"A lot of Airmen have been downrange (in Iraq) in joint taskings before," Captain Porter-Simmons said. "We're ready to get the mission started."

All of the Airmen tasked for this mission are active duty. Alpha 6 is Security Forces, the Air Force police. This group of young men and women are all trained and ready to deploy, Captain Porter-Simmons said. They are ready to use the skills they started with and the skills they have learned from their Army trainers.