The Air Force is currently looking at making two moves that will affect their Security Forces in an initiative entitled, “SECURITY FORCES TRAINING FACILITY RE-ALIGNMENT AND MOBILITY LOGDET EQUIPMENT CONSOLIDATION.” Launched before the plan had even been briefed to the entire force, it makes some pretty serious changes.
(Photo USAF, Staff Sgt. Nathan G. Bevier)
The first is that they want to go from 8 Regional Training Centers that provide “pre-deployment training to meet expeditionary combat readiness skills training” to 4. According to Air Force documents these, “Combat skills include non-standard expeditionary ground combat roles.”
The current RTCs:
Air Combat Command – Silver Flag Alpha, Creech AFB, NV
Air Force Materiel Command – Brave Defender, Eglin AFB, FL
Air Mobility Command – Phoenix Warrior, Ft Dix
Air Force Global Strike Command – Camp Guernsey, WY
ANG – 204th SFS Ft Bliss, TX
PACAF – Commando Warrior, Anderson AFB, Guam
USAFE – Creek Defender, Sembach AB, Germany
Generally, troops attend the RTC aligned with their command.
Realigning pre-deployment training is the good part of the plan. Closing some of these facilities makes sense, particularly considering that between the 8 centers, only around 8,700 Airmen are trained annually. Fewer RTCs will save money and help further standardize pre-deployment training for SF. Go for it Air Force!
(Photo USAF, 180th FW PAO)
Unfortunately, the second part of the proposal gives us pause. There is a plan afoot to consolidate all SF LOGDETs at a single facility. You see the Air Force deploys in UTCs which are Unit Type Codes consisting of personnel to accomplish a certain function. Think of them as capabilities sets. The LOGDET is the material half of this equation and is a laundry list of the gear needed to provide that capability.
There are reasons each unit responsible to provide UTCs maintained their own LOGDETs.
1. No single point of failure. If the balloon goes up, some forces may survive initial strikes and still be able to operate with their equipment.
2. It is THEIR equipment. They maintain and can train with the gear to ensure that it is complete and works properly.
3. The commander has responsibility to ensure that his UTCs and LOGDETs are complete and ready. If it’s incomplete or sub-par the commander has to answer for it.
Separating the personnel from their equipment makes no sense. Commanders would no longer be responsible to provide combat ready forces. Furthermore, the LOGDETs would be at the mercy of transportation. TRANSCOM makes miracles happen everyday but ensuring that troops from one base mate up with the right shipping container from another base, at the right place and the right time, especially in the middle of a war zone, is a bit too much to ask.
Furthermore, if LOGDETs are consolidated the next logical step for the shoe clerks is numbers. Imagine this argument, “Well, we don’t need ALL of this gear sitting here at once, after all, we’ve never ever used it all at the same time so we can cut back on how much gear we stockpile” Then, war comes and gear does not work, is incomplete, or entire sets are missing due to funds being diverted to purchase new furniture at HQ. Don’t believe that last one? Just visit an Air Force base.
This is a bad idea and we hope it crawls back under the rock it came from.
