Ready, aim, fire!

  • Published
  • By Airman Cody Witsaman
  • 136th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
NAVAL AIR STATION FORT WORTH JOIN RESERVE BASE, Texas --  One team, one fight, a common phrase used in the military, has become the motto of the 136th Security Forces Squadron here. The SFS team is constantly focusing and training to handle realistic encounters down range, with the focus of this training on team building.

The shoot and move exercise organized on July 25, 2013 here focused on "acting as a team, communicating as a team and being able to shoot as a team," said Master Sgt. Aubrey Beaver, 136th Security Forces Squadron.

Security forces members ran through the course with M-16 blanks and body armor, targeting paper targets and using the cover they were given for each exercise. While navigating the course members shouted commands, "such as cover and move", to let each member from a four-man squad know when to provide cover fire and advance to the next position.

"The point of the exercise is to keep constant fire on the enemy so the enemy is always going to have their head down," said Staff Sgt. Mark Wilinski, 136th Security Forces Squadron. "This allows constant movement within the unit while forcing the enemy to stay put."

The course prepares security forces members for engagements in the urban environment, using the cover given to complete the mission.

During deployments security forces usually are broken down into squads of three, said Wilinski. "You get to know your team very well, as well as, your specific role."

Security forces hold teamwork extremely high because if something were to go wrong, members would know each specific role within a squad to provide the safest course of action.

"Team movement is the safest most effective way for us to move," said Wilinski. The course has "brought us to move the safest way possible with live weapons as well as giving the most realistic feel."

Team building is only one aspect Beaver focuses on when preparing courses. Another goal in training is to provide the most realist scenarios possible for the participants.

"We try and make the courses as real as possible because we train like we fight," said Beaver. "The courses allow these guys to go down range with situations they can handle based on what we train them here."

With this confidence, a synergy is created within the group. "We are stronger as a team rather than what we are individually," said Wilinski.

Security forces members will rarely go into a situation alone; because in any military situation the goal is to fight with an unfair advantage to provide the best scenario for fellow service members, said Wilinski.

Even though training is very important to A1C Theodore Oliver, Security Forces Squadron, he is ready to get out in the field and observe what his career field can offer. "I love training; training is always good, because I train how I would fight," said Oliver.

The shoot and move course provided a very active way to show how it would be like in the field, at the same time taking place on a hot and humid day. That being said, t Beaver receives feedback from his troops, good and bad. "I explain to them, yes you are hot and yes you are uncomfortable, but that is what you will be facing down range."

Watching the activity and speaking with Security Forces members, the courses that are set up here provide a wide variety of skills to learn and improve what is of monumental importance in the field.

Weather is an obstacle present everywhere in the world, "so when they get down range, it isn't a foreign concept to be hot and uncomfortable in all your gear," said Beaver.

With these training exercises, members will be able to perform to the best of their ability in any condition, providing the help and support their fellow squad members require.