SIG SAUER - Never Settle

Archive for the ‘Air Force’ Category

High Ground Wins Multi-Million Dollar Contract for USAF Carriage Equipment

Friday, October 12th, 2018

After extensive evaluation, the US Air Force has awarded a multi-million contract to purchase High Ground newly re-engineered carriage equipment for their special operations TAC-P, JTAC, ASOG and ASOS units.

A0B8E596-E2B9-4146-B8CF-6C873E1A6F4E

“High Ground’s newly re-designed bags, packs and technology pouches are optimized for the demanding performance and functional requirements of the USAF and its airman. High Ground’s technical staff and application engineers evaluated downrange customer feedback to incorporate new advancements in their gear”,” says Mike Runella, Director of Business Development of High Ground.

For the past three (3) years, High Ground has actively supplied the US Air Force with a variety of bags, packs and equipment on a smaller, “as needed” basis; including High Ground’s Summit 5 Day pack with a patented Quick Release Waist Belt System and their Load Out Bag with their revolutionary wheel design. High Ground Gear, a product division of Ehmke Manufacturing Company, Inc., designs and manufactures the latest in mission-specific, technologically advanced tactical nylon gear and armor systems.

“Ehmke, through our High Ground product line, is honored to continue to serve all the military services. This latest contract commitment by the US Air Force shows their confidence that our gear can meet the rigorous tempo of their Special Operations units”, states Bob Rosania, CEO of Ehmke Manufacturing Company. He further adds. “Our company’s mission is to continually evolve the design of our gear to meet the ever-changing challenges our war fighters face”.

The complete High Ground product catalogue of tactical gear & armor can be found at www.highgroundgear.com.

High Ground; We Make Every Stitch Count…

Special Tactics Airmen Open Tyndall AFB Airfield for Operations

Friday, October 12th, 2018

HURLBURT FIELD, Florida- Air Force Special Tactics Airmen with the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron assessed, opened and controlled air traffic at Tyndall Air Force Base, Oct. 11.

Special Tactics Airmen have the ability to assess, open, and control major airfields to clandestine dirt strips in any environment, including those that have been impacted by a natural disaster.

The Special Tactics Airmen cleared and established a runway at 7 p.m., Oct. 11, and received the first aircraft at 7:06 p.m.

Special Tactics Airmen are in control of the airfield and are prepared to support airfield operations at Tyndall Air Force Base until further notice.

This will allow support to facilitate humanitarian assistance to Tyndall Air Force Base.

Tyndall Air Force Base received extensive damage in the wake of Hurricane Michael.

-1st Lt Jaclyn Pienkowski, USAF , 24th SOW PAO

B.E. Meyers & Co. Exhibiting at ANG WEPTAC 2018 in Darley Defense Suite

Friday, October 12th, 2018

B.E. Meyers & Co., Inc. will be exhibiting at the Air National Guard Weapons and Tactics show (ANG WEPTAC) on October 16-17, 2018, at the Darley Defense Suite in the Double Tree Hotel in Tuscon, AZ. The company will be showcasing its innovative technologies engineered to improve the capabilities of the modern warfighter, such as the high-power NIR/VIS MAWL®-DA (Modular Advanced Weapon Laser – Direct Action). They will also be displaying their IZLID® series of IR and SWIR laser pointers/illuminators; the BOARS®-M2 optics and accessories rail for the M2 platform; and the GLARE RECOIL® Escalation of Force system for Ocular Interruption and Hail and Warning.

Show attendees are invited to visit the B.E. Meyers & Co. booth to learn more about their Defense Systems and speak with a company representative. To schedule a meeting with a member of the B.E. Meyers & Co. Team, please contact info@bemeyers.com.

USAF Stands Up Special Warfare Training Wing

Thursday, October 11th, 2018

To meet the demand for special operations warfighters and improve retention rates for these critical career fields, United States Air Force officials activated the Special Warfare Training Wing Oct. 10, here.

The mission of the new wing is to select, train, equip, and mentor Airmen to conduct global combat operations in contested, denied, operationally limited, and permissive environments under any environmental conditions.

“This new wing will help us provide additional oversight and advocacy for the complex, high-risk and demanding training that’s necessary to produce Airmen to meet the requirements of the joint force,” said Col. James Hughes, SWTW commander.

The new wing headquarters and subordinate organizational structure will consist of approximately 135 personnel. The existing Battlefield Airman Training Group, which was activated in June 2016, has been renamed to the Special Warfare Training Group and will report to the SWTW.

Building upon what the Battlefield Airmen Training Group has started, the previously established five pillars of marketing and recruiting, manpower and leadership, curriculum, equipment and infrastructure will serve as a starting point for the wing.

“Keeping these pillars in mind will allow us to continue focusing on building the best Airman we can from the time they step into a recruiter’s office up until the end of their careers,” said Hughes.

“Wings move the ball forward at an operational and strategic level,” said Hughes. “They can provide structure, oversight, strategic vision and unity of command. But to become a leader in the special warfare community, we have to continue pushing the envelope of science and technology. It all comes down to doing everything we can to create Airmen capable of problem solving across a wide-range of national security challenges to meet the joint force’s needs.”

Additionally, the wing will focus on improving human performance by staying at the forefront of science and technology with the addition of the Human Performance Support Group, a one of kind unit that will integrate specialists from a variety of sports and medical fields into special warfare training to optimize physical and mental performance, reduce injury and speed rehabilitation to create more capable and resilient ground operators.

“By pushing the limits of science and technology, we’re going to find the most efficient and effective methods for improving human performance,” said Hughes. “We’re going to take what we already have learned and enhance how we produce the most physically and psychologically fit Airmen possible for the joint force.”

Special Warfare Airmen, previously known as Battlefield Airmen, are the critical ground link between air assets and ground forces. They are trained to operate as a ground component to solve ground problems with air power, often embedding with conventional and special operations forces. Their requirements have grown substantially since 2001 due to the effectiveness of and increasing demand for the precision application of air power in the joint combat environment.

Seven Air Force specialty codes currently fall into the Special Warfare category: Pararescue, Combat Rescue Officer, Combat Control, Special Tactics Officer, Special Operations Weather Team, Tactical Air Control Party personnel, and non-rated Air Liaison Officer. These Airmen share ground combat skill sets and a sharp focus on joint, cross-domain operations.

The first step toward more efficient and effective training is to combine the courses of initial entry for all special warfare candidates into one cohesive course.

“The various Special Warfare Air Force specialty codes are a lot more similar than they are different,” said Chief Master Sgt. James Clark, SWTW command chief. “These courses of initial entry are the bedrock of lethality and readiness. By combining them, we’re making the pipeline much more efficient, while also building a team mentality that focuses on our similarities, rather than our differences.”

This change is also the first step toward answering the most important question facing the SWTW: How do we create and develop the most adaptive and agile leaders possible?” said Clark. “It starts by continuing to be critical of ourselves, while searching for any way to become more efficient in everything that we do.”

www.specialwarfaretw.af.mil

-Air Education and Training Command

Return With Honor – West Virginia Air National Guard SERE

Saturday, October 6th, 2018

B9474450-FF36-48B2-BAAE-3B7138962FC2

Survival, evasion, resistance and escape (SERE) Instructor training is one of the most difficult and extensive training programs in the United States Air Force. It’s designed to do one thing – save lives in the midst of a worst case scenario – and is exactly the reason Master Sgt. Bob Miner took on the challenge of earning the title, which he now uses to train West Virginia Air National Guard members as the only SERE specialist in the state.

The SERE motto is “Return with honor”, and is what they base they’re whole career off of: teaching members the skills to do just that.

SERE Airmen must endure nearly two years of ruthless training designed to shape them into experts in their career fields. After an initial six-month long school where, on average, only 10 percent graduate, each SERE specialist must complete more than 45 weeks of on-the-job training to complete their skill sets.

This training includes U.S. Army Airborne School at Ft. Benning, Georgia; arctic training at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska; water survival training in Pensacola, Florida; mountain training in Washington jungle training in Hawaii and even desert training in Nevada.

“This is a job you really have to earn. There is so much training that goes into this,” Miner said. “It is critical to be able to relay the skills and information you possess to the others and enable them to get themselves out of a bad situation.”

Training includes everything from land navigation, food and water procurement, shelter building, first aid, the military code of conduct, to shaping an Airman’s mentality that will be crucial for SERE operations in the worst of situations.

The U.S. Air Force is looked to as the subject matter experts for SERE training, and is the only service to operate a full, career-long SERE Specialist cadre.

It wasn’t long ago when the Air National Guard was required to rely on their active duty counterparts to train aircrew members who needed to be SERE qualified. When the National Guard Bureau approved 10 unit-level SERE Specialist positions for ANG Operational Support Squadrons in 2014, Miner took the opportunity to join the 130th Airlift Wing in Charleston, West Virginia and began his transition from active duty. He chose the 130th AW for a simple reason, to be closer to his family in his home state of New York, and hasn’t looked back.

Since coming onboard, Miner has been providing the 130th AW’s aircrew, which consists of pilots, navigators, flight engineers, loadmasters and aeromedical evacuation personnel, with the most current training in local area survival, combat survival, conduct after capture, water survival and emergency parachute training. In addition to that, Miner also assists with unit-level personnel recovery responsibilities such as Isolated Personnel Report Program (ISO-PREP), evasion plans of action and individual issue personnel recovery kits.

The most challenging part of his transition was his arrival, he said, and being tasked with developing a SERE program at the 130th AW.

“It was a big learning curve for me, the Guard is just such a unique and different setting,” he explained. “Here we practically have 48 hours a month, not including the allotted training days every year, to get everyone qualified, on top of trying to realize that you’re only one priority on a huge list of the Commander’s readiness spectrum.”

Miner’s reach just isn’t to the 130th AW though, he also gives a hand to units that don’t have the privilege of a SERE Specialist, as do fellow specialists from across the Air Guard. From the 130th AW’s “sister unit,” the 167th Airlift Wing in Martinsburg, to places as far away as Puerto Rico and Washington, Miner’s training has enhanced numerous units’ survival outcome.

“We don’t have a written agreement or anything, just when we have time, we help,” Miner said. “So many units don’t get the proper training since unqualified personnel have to give them what knowledge they can, and we have to try to fill those gaps.”

Miner has grown to appreciate his new home in West Virginia. Being an avid outdoorsman, he claims that he’s enjoyed discovering all that the state has to offer and that West Virginia would be the perfect setting for an east coast version of SERE School.

24801334-16EC-4212-8AA5-0183E36A90EC

It is obvious that Miner takes pride in his career.

To Miner, his job isn’t just a day-in, day-out, nine-to-five job. It’s spending nights outside in the wilderness, traveling across the country and experiencing some of the most beautiful places the United States has to offer. More than anything, he said, it’s knowing that if something happened to the people he has trained, he could be the reason they make it back home safe.

Story and photos by Airman 1st Class Caleb Vance, 130th Airlift Wing Air National Guard Public Affairs

Juggernaut.Case – Ejection-Seat EKB (Electronic Kneeboard) Solution Has Successfully Passed Testing

Friday, October 5th, 2018

After several years of development with US and Coalition Air Forces and Naval Aviation, Juggernaut.Case™ is pleased to announce that the Ejection-Seat EKB (Electronic Kneeboard) Solution has successfully passed ejection-seat blast tests conducted both in the USA and France.

69152B68-6C24-4716-9C23-35CCE0528366

The kneeboard-mount and tablet case must withstand the violent forces generated when a pilot ejects from a fighter aircraft at speeds of up to 650knts without disengaging or causing injury the pilot’s leg during ejection. This required an entirely new design that deflected the windblast and survives g-forces during the ejection process.

Two separate tests (with multiple blasts) were performed within specialized blast chambers. One by PMA-281 at Naval Air Station Patuxent River and the other by the French Air Force at a test facility in Toulouse, France. Both tests were successful, and the products are now approved for ejection seat aircraft worldwide.

The new design features a two-strap configuration utilizing the new ITW Nexus GT-Cobra™ polymer buckles and a laminar-airflow mount-base that contours to the pilot’s leg to which the case is fastened to. This design also affords a stable platform on the pilot’s leg for tablet use. Paper maps and aluminum chart holders become an unnecessary addition to the cockpit, except for backup maps that are carried separately.

Juggernaut.Case™ currently offers two tablet Ejection-Seat EKB Solutions; the Samsung Tab Active 2 and Tab S2 8.0. The development for the iPad Mini 3/4 generation is also pending. The Tab Active 2 EKB also features an active S-Pen storage and tether in the top door of the SLEEV case. All EJ-SEAT EKB Solution Kits retail for $400 USD and are available on the Juggernaut.Case™ webstore: shop.juggernautcase.com/products/mount-ejection-seat-ekb-solution

All EKB Solutions are based on 8-inch (diagonal) touchscreen platforms for HF (human factors) approval within the cockpit as to not interfere with flight controls, ejection seat or interfaces/displays.

The Tab Active 2 Ejection-Seat EKB Solution will also be on display at AUSA in the Samsung Electronics Booth #1966, taking place 8 Oct-10 Oct 2018 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in D.C.

DBB11F11-7CAB-4F9F-BC44-3520DDCC2910

For more information visit: www.juggcase.com or follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/JuggCase/ and Instagram: www.instagram.com/juggernautcase

For quotes and sales inquires email: info@juggdef.com

F-16 Test Photos Credit – DALO

USAF Special Tactics History

Thursday, October 4th, 2018

Since we’ve discussed US Air Force Special Tactics in the past, I thought this video would be a good share.

www.airforcespecialtactics.af.mil

Show Me A Leader

Saturday, September 22nd, 2018

AFSOC showing what it’s all about.