MCCRADY TRAINING CENTER, SOUTH CAROLINA –
Thirty Airmen from Joint Base Charleston attended warfighter skills training March 6-10, 2017 at McCrady Training Center, Eastover, South Carolina. The training hones the expertise required of a deploying service member.
The weeklong course taught Airmen land navigation, combat casualty care, improvised explosive device identification procedures, hand-to-hand combat techniques and included numerous team building exercises.
For many Airmen, this was their first combat oriented training since basic training. For some who are several years into their careers without combat skill refreshers, the war skills course provides the opportunity for Airmen to get back into a warrior mindset.
“The training was an eye-opener. It built upon the foundational training I have received from the Air Force throughout my time as an Airman,” said Airman 1st Class Andrew Nelson, 628th Communications Squadron cyber security analyst. “I am deploying soon and used this opportunity to refresh my proficiency and I also learned some new and essential skills.”
The course, hosted by the South Carolina National Guard, enables Army and Air Force service members an opportunity to strengthen communication and introduce cultural perspectives to both sides.
"I believe the training was overwhelmingly successful,” said Capt. John Seigler, South Carolina Pre-Mobilization Training Assistance Element officer in charge. “The Airmen were very motivated and eager to learn. We covered a lot of material in a relatively short amount of time. By the end of the week, I saw them implementing a lot of the training in an operational environment on their own.”
The training also allows JB Charleston Airmen to use resources not available at their home base. A mock forward operating base, a virtual weapons training system, and numerous other logistics simulating an expeditionary environment, facilitated the Airmen in their training.
“The training is meant to give deploying Airmen confidence in an expeditionary setting,” said 1st Lt. Adrian Buttenhoff, 628th Logistics Readiness Squadron flight commander. “Slots are primarily for Airmen who are deploying or who have the potential to deploy in the near future. However, anyone interested in a future training slot should contact their unit deployment manager.”