Evade the Enemy, Hone Combat Skills

by Senior Airman Danielle Campbell Purnell, 94th Airlift Wing Public Affairs,

The team stayed low and moved slowly as they crept through the woods. They were cautious to step lightly to ensure no twigs were broken or leaves were moved out of place.

Just a few hours earlier, they were part of an emergency landing after the engine of their C-130 went down. They were expecting a "virtual meeting" signal to come through their survival radio in less than 30 minutes. In the interim, their job was to use the Global Positioning System to locate anything, anyone.

Members from the 700th Airlift Squadron and the 94th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron participated in a simulated exercise facilitated by the 94th Operations Support Squadron where they had to evade the enemy in a non-permissive environment at a training field at Dobbins, Feb. 3 through 5.

The field training exercise was part of the group's expeditionary combat skills training. "This is basically a refresher of survival school," said Tech. Sgt. Preston Caldwell from the 94th Operations Support Squadron. "We teach evading the enemy, radio procedures and how to properly approach rescue, among other things."

A signal came through their radios, informing the group to seek out a cache, a piece of hidden information marked by coordinates. The group continued through the woods guided by a compass, a GPS and intuition. They were determined to find the container of pertinent information that would help lead them out of the wilderness.

As the cache indicated, the team was nearing crossroads, a dirt road intersecting a concrete road. As they approached the road, a few members of the crew set up a perimeter, while others carefully proceeded to the designated target. Once given the signal, the remaining crewmembers advanced to the target.

"We have several plans in place," said Staff Sgt. Sean McDermott, aircrew flight equipment craftsman from the 94th OSS. "The aircrew is trained to be ready for a number of situations that may occur should they find themselves in a compromising situation such as this."

Upon arrival at the rally point, all members of the aircrew were rescued successfully.

"We train the warfighter to return home with honor," said McDermott. "We go through a lot of pre-planning to combat the 'what-ifs'."

The flight crew also accomplished Water Survival training, Advanced Composite Cargo Aircraft training and Chemical Egress training during this field training exercise which they must complete every three years to stay compliant.

McDermott said the aircrew at Dobbins are trained by a Survival Evading Rescue and Escape specialist and one of the best, Master Sgt. Jeff Reagan from the 94th OSS.

"In real life situations, nothing is 100 percent guaranteed," said McDermott. "But this training has proven to reduce the risk of our members being captured.