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Community support key to special operations training

  • Published
  • 62nd Airlift Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. --  
Special Tactics Airmen of the 22nd Special Tactics Squadron recently conducted special operations air integration training, July 9, in the local area outside Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

Local close air support training allows Airmen to improve communication skills with simulated ground special operations forces and aircraft using radios and GPS equipment, also known as Joint Terminal Attack Control training.

Close air support is when precise air strikes and aircraft munitions are used to protect and enable friendly forces on the ground.

In these training scenarios, the training aircraft do not conduct any actual air strikes or carry any live ammunition.

Without CAS training, the Airmen would not be able to safely conduct close air support when deployed for special operations forces, including the U.S. Navy SEALs and U.S. Army Green Berets.

Special Tactics Airmen are the Air Force's special operations forces who integrate air power in ground operations to provide global access, personnel rescue and precision air strike in hostile and remote environments.

During the July 9 training, the two 22nd STS Airmen and two civilian instructors  moved around in the small Western Washington town without interacting or interrupting civilian residents, while controlling aircraft above to simulate deployed missions.

Following policy, the Airmen had informed the local police beforehand to ensure they trained on permissive land, and to respect local residents' safety and privacy.

"The instructors are highly trained and conduct the training as discreetly and safely as it can possibly be done," said one of the JTAC instructors and former Air Force combat controller. "It is our goal to always leave a very small footprint in the areas we train."

According to the instructor, there are several reasons they train in the local communities around the base:  the lack of congested skies above local communities provides increased training value for the operators that is also cost-effective for the taxpayer.

The airspace over JBLM is very congested, with air traffic from both McChord Field and Lewis, as well as Seattle Tacoma International Airport.  This crowded sky doesn't allow Special Tactics Airmen to accomplish their air integration training and
certification, which must be maintained to safely and precisely call in air strikes during special operations missions.

Additionally, conducting operations in a small-town environment unfamiliar to the trainee provides more realistic environments for them, so they can better direct air support when deployed with special operations ground forces in hostile and remote areas all over the world.

"The majority of the fighting we do overseas takes place in small villages," said the instructor. "This is as close as we can get to simulating those kind of environments."

Local training is also cost effective.  Officials at the 22 STS estimate they save more than $40,000 of the taxpayer's dollars by conducting the training near home station.

Another instructor, a former TACP and  now a 22nd STS civilian trainer, points out that local training allows military members to spend more time with their families. Many of the Special Tactics Airmen are gone six to nine months of the year when not deployed in order to train in different locations world-wide.

"These guys are already gone a lot throughout the year. Any training we can schedule here increases the amount of time they have at home with their families," he said.

According to the instructors, Special Tactics Airmen routinely notify local law enforcement and civic leaders when they will be training in their area to ensure local communities are informed.

Most of the time during training, the Special Tactics Airmen rarely interact with the civilian residents of the town they are training in.

If they do interact with residents, the 22nd STS Airmen and trainers have no problem answering any questions about the CAS training they are conducting.
"I am always upfront with people when they approach us,'" said the instructor. "I tell them right away who we are and what we are doing."

When it comes to close air support training, the local community's support around JBLM is essential to ensuring the U.S. Air Force's special operations forces are able to train and prepare to protect and defend U.S. and allied assets when deployed.