Contingency skills training provides valuable experiences for Airman

Staff Sgt. Craig Seals

As an Airman, I did not relish the experience of Army-based training for my upcoming deployment.

But the Army changed my perspective of the Air Force after two weeks of tactical movement training, urban combat training, combat first aid, convoy training and even a bit of hand-to-hand combat.

The Air Force’s Air Mobility Command conducts this Contingency Skills Training course at its Air Mobility Warfare Center at Fort Dix, N.J.

The training is “purple” in the sense that the training is more traditional for the Army. We use Army equipment and its installation to accomplish the mission.

As I attended this course, I must admit that low-crawling through the mud and the snow with a litter, while under fire seemed like something out of an action film.

I realized something new during those two weeks. The instructors were not aiming to teach it to me, but it is an eyeopener.

I learned that today’s Air Force is nothing like yesterday’s Air Force. Though it seems like trite rhetoric to some, the expeditionary needs of today’s fight requires a differently trained Airman than the Air Force I joined in 1998.

Today’s Global War on Terror requires Airmen to have a combat awareness more akin to that of a Soldier. More Airmen are being tasked to help their sister services during their deployments, which requires them to go “outside the wire.”

To be combat effective, Airmen must be trained on the specific tasks and tactics they might face outside the wire.

One of the more common tasks Airmen are being assigned to is convoy duty. If an Airman has never been in a HUMVEE or never been trained on fire-team tactics, then how effective will that Airman be should something unexpected occur? Will their lack of experience help or hinder the Soldiers they are there to assist?

These convoys face many dangers but Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) are the most common in today’s combat zones. If an Airman on a convoy has never received training on, at the very least, the basics of how to spot an IED, how effective will that Airman be in the protection of the servicemembers?

AMC requires this training for all of their Airmen, the Air Force requires it for all public affairs Airmen, legal and legal assistants Airmen, and chaplains, chaplain assistants as well.

I feel this training is something every Airman, regardless of their normal duties, should attend. The benefits go beyond the simple learning and practical application of the training.

It gives Airmen the opportunity to train alongside commanders and leaders, from the airman just out of basic training to seasoned colonels.

This training did more than just prepare me for the eventuality of going outside the wire. This training gave new meaning to the term “Combat Airman.”