Combat training unit members define camaraderie

Published Sept. 20, 2011
By Master Sgt. Scott Sturkol
Air Mobility Command Public Affairs

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- For present and past Airmen from the 421st Combat Training Squadron at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., camaraderie among its members is as important as doing the job itself.

The 421st CTS, now a unit with the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center, "traces its history to the Vietnam War, when it was activated in March of 1968 as the 821st Combat Security Policy Squadron at Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash.," according to its fact sheet. The unit was re-activated and re-designated as the 1314th Ground Combat Readiness Evaluation Squadron at Little Rock AFB, Ark., in August 1984 where it would undergo several additional re-designations until being established as the 421st Ground Combat Training Squadron in January 1995.

The "Scorpions" of the 421st, like its history shows, have had a hand in training airmen and others for deployments for decades in numerous career fields -- from security forces and civil engineering to legal, comptroller and public affairs. It is part of the "black hat" legacy the unit held until recently until dress and appearance regulations changed with the use of the airman battle uniform.

"These years have been the best years of my career," said Master Sgt. Bill Gaskins, current superintendent of security forces training at the 421st CTS who is on his second tour with the unit. "For many of my years there we wore the black instructor cap with the instructor tab. We took a lot of pride in wearing the black hat and earning that tab because we knew all the people we trained may go into harm's way. That's our incentive for doing the best we can."

Through the years in all of its variations, airmen who have served and continue to serve in the unit say the atmosphere within builds a special camaraderie where they take care of each other. Gaskins said it's "about the people."

"Throughout all my time in the unit, our instructors have been the best the Air Force has to offer," said Gaskins, whose training section oversees the Phoenix Warrior, Phoenix Raven, MWD and other security forces training. "They are the soul of the organization that keeps a consistent quality of training that can only be upheld by the people who do the training. Over the years the doctrine and tactics, techniques and procedures have changed for our training, but it's been because of those people that it's been as excellent as it has."

Retired Tech. Sgt. Rob Miller, a former Phoenix Raven and 421st CTS instructor, said even before he went to the unit in 2001 he had to prepare and earn the recommendation from his fellow security forces at Fairchild AFB. Two fellow airmen took the time to prepare him.

"They illustrated all of the traits we hold close to our hearts as current and former instructors of the 421 -- integrity, passion, conviction, confidence, the need to square our respective career fields away, and most importantly, the knowledge to do so," Miller said. "Before I received the letter of recommendation [to go to the 421st], I was put through the paces in my own squadron. I had to learn lesson plans, I had to teach classes to fellow security forces members, and I had to be in shape if I wanted to have the seal of approval."
When discussing camaraderie, many former members said it bound the unit members with each other.

"The importance of camaraderie within the 421 is mainly due to the amount of time we as cadre spend together," said Master Sgt. John Pickford, who also has done two tours as an instructor at the unit and is currently on a year-long assignment to a non-disclosed base in Southwest Asia.

"You can have 12, 14 and even 16-hour days, day-in and day-out, course after course," Pickford said. "You have to like the people you were working with because you were always together. There were times when I spent more time in a month with cadre than I did my own family. It was almost like being deployed. Sure there were complaints, but you did the mission...and we had a unified mission to train those going into harm's way. We were going to make certain that we got it right too."

Retired Tech. Sgt. Kenneth Davis, who worked at the 421st CTS from 2001 to 2004, said the unit's camaraderie becomes a part of you.

"You can't help but become attached to other individuals who have the sort of passion for the mission as 421st members do," Davis said. "As you support others and they support you -- you become weaved into the same fabric of the organization."

For retired Master Vernon Blocker, one of the original cadre of instructors to go from Little Rock AFB to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. (then Fort Dix) in the 1990s, the camaraderie he still recalls from his days with the 421st are indescribable. "You see words cannot define it because it comes from the heart, and not from the brain or mouth."

As the Air Force continues to build its culture for airman resiliency and Comprehensive Airman Fitness, squadron members said it may be possible to look at what the 421st CTS Airmen have learned and maintained for decades as a recipe for taking care of people.

"Camaraderie is the glue that holds us together as a team," said retired Tech. Sgt. Bob McWhorter, a former 421st CTS explosive ordnance disposal instructor who now works at the Expeditionary Center as a civilian instructor. "It helps us towards our goal even when we all don't agree on the methodology being used to get us there because we trust that our brothers and sisters will get us there no matter what we face."

Air Force Phoenix Warrior Training Course