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US Facilitates Philippine Air Force AOC, ISR Training

Friday, September 29th, 2023

VILLAMOR AIR BASE, Philippines — At the request of the government of the Philippines, the 505th Training Squadron located at Hurlburt Field, Florida, sent a team of U.S. Air Force Air Operations Center Formal Training Unit instructors to Villamor Air Base, Philippines, from Aug. 10-19. The instructors trained twenty-eight members of the Philippine Air Force’s 300th Air Intelligence and Security Wing and 5th Fighter Wing. The bilateral training focused on joint planning processes; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance fundamentals; and best practices for ISR support to operations.

The 705th Training Squadron and the 505th Combat Training Squadron, located at Hurlburt Field, Florida, and Pacific Air Forces Intelligence Operations Division assisted the 505th Training Squadron.

“We couldn’t have done this mission without the support of PACAF/A2 and without the support of our sister squadrons,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Jason Gossett, 505th TRS commander. “Our intelligence professionals are always in high demand, and when we saw how much intel training the PAF was requesting, we reached out to our partners to get the right blend of expertise.”

In a brief graduation ceremony, PAF students expressed their gratitude for the unique and focused training.

In the closing remarks, U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. David Jones, 505th TRS director of operations and mobile training team lead, said, “The United States and the Philippines became formal allies with the signing of the National Defense Treaty of 1951, and with the changing geopolitical environment, we are as committed as ever to our allies and partners in the Pacific. Many of us have strong personal and professional ties to the Philippines, and we were honored to come out and support this mission.”

“This training has offered exceptional chances to engage and build connections with fellow instructors and intelligence professionals who share our interests,” said Philippine Air Force Brigadier General Torres, 300th AISW commander “In our swiftly evolving world, adaptability is paramount. Training fosters our capacity to remain versatile and receptive to fresh concepts, technologies, and methodologies.

“Through the enriching five-days of training, we’ve established a robust network that fosters collaborations and invaluable partnerships, benefiting both the 300th Air Intelligence and Security Wing and the Philippine Air Force.”

The 505th TRS is responsible for preparing graduates to operate the AOC Weapon System, graduating more than 1,600 joint and coalition personnel annually. The squadron teaches 13 initial qualification courses (including an Integrated Air and Missile Defense Course), an AOC Fundamentals Course, a Joint Air Operations C2 Course, and an Academic Instructor Course. Graduates from the 505th TRS serve in all combatant commands.

505th Training Squadron located at Hurlburt Field, Florida, sent a team of U.S. Air Force Air Operations Center Formal Training Unit instructors to Villamor Air Base, Philippines, from Aug. 10-19, 2023. The instructors trained twenty-eight members of the Philippine Air Force’s 300th Air Intelligence and Security Wing and 5th Fighter Wing. The bilateral training focused on joint planning processes; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance fundamentals; and best practices for ISR support to operations.

Story by Deb Henley

505th Command and Control Wing

Public Affairs

Posted in Air Force, Guest Post, International, Training | No Comments »

Spectre Operations Tabletop Gaming

Wednesday, September 27th, 2023

Spectre Operations is a tabletop wargame set in the ‘Ultra Modern’ era – kind of like Warhammer or Dungeons and Dragons.

We are about to release our 3rd Edition of the rules, now with even more depth and detail than ever before!

Spectre Operations provides the comprehensive rules for wargames set in the modern era on the tabletop. These rules will allow you to play a myriad of the situations that define Modern Warfare. Lead an Operation consisting of Combined forces against a Near Peer Opponent, Conduct a Special Operations mission to Eliminate a High Value Target, or Covertly Infiltrate and conduct an Intelligence gathering mission against a sensitive target – Spectre Operations allows you to play all aspects of these missions, and more.

We are aware that a big gateway interest in firearms at the moment comes from playing video games, and we really want to give another pathway for people that is a little more hands on and creative. Spectre Miniatures sell a comprehensive range of miniatures to support the rules, which require assembly and painting. We’ve found this is a great way for people of all ages to have some time to focus on a task and have a creative outlet. Following on from this, we have also had a lot of success with supporting Veterans groups, including the use of creative therapy.

Head on over to www.spectreminiatures.com to get your pre-order in today. Pre-Order includes a bunch of freebies and ships worldwide.

Posted in Guest Post, International, Training | No Comments »

Welcome to the Jungle: MARSOC Diversifies Training Environment

Wednesday, September 27th, 2023

HAWAII – A team of Marine Raiders recently completed a jungle tracking and mobility course as part of their pre-deployment training program.

The course, administered by instructors from the Tactical Tracking Operations School, teaches mobility in a jungle environment, rope and rappel work, jungle tracking, and anti-tracking techniques.

For roughly two weeks, the team worked on enhancing these skills to be able to effectively operate in a jungle environment while deployed.

“Looking at the Pacific and deployments in that region, learning these skills is essential,” said a critical skills operator. “For so long we trained for desert environments and now we have to look at where we could be needed next, and the jungle is top of that list.”

Since 2015, TTOS has been offering some manner of jungle training for U.S. Special Operations Command units, and in 2021, upon the arrival of their current vice president, Cody Carroll, the program began to evolve into what it is today.

“My last deployment as a reconnaissance officer was to the Pacific region,” said Carroll. “Through my own research and training, I realized most units didn’t have the hard skills or training to succeed in this environment.”

The creation of the current course was not about creating a new, innovative program, but more about getting back to how historical forces would have trained.

“These same problems that we have now: low visibility, difficulty for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms, broken communications, and logistical issues, they all existed for troops during WWII and Vietnam,” Carroll said. “We didn’t need to reinvent the wheel, just build the skills that we stopped training because we spent 20 years in the desert.”

Throughout the two weeks, the team trained in every aspect of jungle mobility. They had to navigate thick brush, scale and rappel cliff faces, and traverse rivers and other water features. All while either tracking an adversary or preventing an adversary from being able to track them.

They also spent time learning jungle specific counter improvised explosive device techniques, reaction to contact in dense vegetation, and setting and countering ambushes.

“You see guys that are newer to the team start out very hesitant in these different drills and in tracking,” said a CSO. “By the end of it, the confidence is through the roof, you’ll see those same guys find a track and maneuver the jungle like they’ve been doing it their whole lives.”

The course culminates with an exercise designed to last up to 72 hours where the students are ambushed by an adversary and must regroup and utilize their command and control to organize tracking teams to capture the adversary using all of the tracking and mobility techniques learned over the two weeks.

The team all responded positively to the training, praising its effectiveness and the foundation it provides for SOF units to build upon as they deploy to regions where this sort of mobility is needed.

“I’ve been through this training with two teams now and both experiences were beneficial to everyone on the team,” a CSO said. “I really think every company that can deploy to a jungle environment should come do this training. It’s invaluable.”

Story by Cpl Henry Rodriguez II,

Marine Forces, Special Operations Command

Posted in Guest Post, SOF, Training, USMC | 5 Comments »

DSEI 23 – Raider Targetry

Thursday, September 14th, 2023

Raider Targetry’s motto is “we move. you shoot.” They provide robotic targetry which is fully instrumented and customizable for visual, thermal, radar and maneuver characteristics.

They are also lightweight and their static versions can be hand carried to desired target areas.

raidertargetry.com

Posted in DSEi, International, Training | 1 Comment »

AF Special Warfare Training Wing Hosts Pelvic Health Clinic

Wednesday, September 13th, 2023

The Special Warfare Training Wing supports a rigorous training pipeline, preparing America’s Airmen to meet the physical & cognitive demands required to compete in a contested environment. The physical stresses of both the female and male trainee make training taxing on their pelvic floor & abdominal wall. The prevalence of urinary incontinence for athletes is cited ranging between 10-80%, and for female athletes, 49% experience stress urinary incontinence with exercise.

Given these staggering numbers and the physical demands placed on candidates entering the #afspecwar pipeline, Major Greene, a Physical Therapist (PT) supporting the 352 Combat Control School, invited two Pelvic Health PTs to host a 2-day “pelvic health for the athlete” course at Chapman Annex, JBSA for musculoskeletal experts serving in both the Special Warfare Training Wing and partners at the 59th Medical Wing. The Special Warfare Human Performance Squadron is the first in the DoD serving the special warfare community to understand this impact, host a training course to address the issue, and build a capability ready for America’s next generation of operators.

–Special Warfare Human Performance Support Group

Posted in AFSW, Air Force, For the Ladies, Guest Post, Medical, Training | No Comments »

SWAT, Military Practice Tactical Casualty Care During 2023 Tactical Rescue Challenge

Sunday, September 10th, 2023

SWAT and Military teams put their tactical combat care skills to the test during the 5th Annual Tactical Rescue Challenge at the Connecticut National Guard’s Camp Hartell in Windsor Locks, Conn. Aug. 14, 2023.

The Tactical Rescue Challenge was created in 2018 as an additional piece to the annual Connecticut SWAT Challenge and tests police and rescue teams on critical medical skills and tactics necessary during rescue operations in austere environments.

“[The challenge is] really geared toward the team medic although operators are cross trained into medicine, so you have not just medics participating in the event but other operators for any kind of tactical team,” said Maj. Wesley Kyle. “There’s a heavy emphasis on medicine in addition to casualty evacuation rescue techniques, moving the casualties off the “X”, and performing treatments at appropriate times.”

Prior to 2001, a trauma patient may have received basic life-saving medical care when an Emergency Medical Technician arrived on the scene. However, Kyle said the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan lead to a shift in the point of origin for beginning emergency medical care from the EMT to the police officer or other first responders.

“Moving care toward the point of injury really started out of those wars and then quickly transitioned to the civilian tactical teams,” said Kyle, an Emergency Room doctor in the civilian sector with experience working with SWAT during his residency. “We’re still translating lessons learned from the battlefield because there was such a large loss of life with penetrating trauma, and there was kind of an explosion of new ideas … it’s changed the whole landscape and it’s incredible to see all these things fully adopted on the civilian side.”

Medical innovation is, of course, not something new on the battlefield. Tourniquets were first developed by the Roman army. The concept of triaging patients was developed by Baron Dominique Jean Larrey, chief surgeon in Napoleon’s Army. The ambulance was invented during the American Civil War. Tactical Combat Casualty Care, or TC3, methodologies were developed in the early 90s and fine-tuned during the Global War on Terror. There have also been massive advancements in preventative medicine, mental and emotional health, sanitation, plastic surgery and prosthetics, and many, many more.

For competitors in the Tactical Rescue Challenge, the primary focus was on TC3: care under fire, tactical field care, and tactical evacuation care. In one scenario, teams were required to breach a train and eliminate a threat before evaluating and applying field care to a simulated casualty and extracting the patient to a higher-level of care. A second scenario had teams extract a wounded K-9 from a tear gas-filled train car before administering a tourniquet.

While the idea of a first responder, such as a police officer, having the capability, training, and resources available to administer lifesaving first aid may seem logical, the truth is not every department or officer is afforded this luxury. In addition to providing a competitive environment for officers and operators to practice their skills in a stressful, high-pace environment, the Tactical Rescue Challenge is also meant to demonstrate the importance of incorporating these skills at the lowest level to improve the survivability for people in harm’s way.

To learn more about the Tactical Rescue Challenge, visit: www.ctswatchallenge.com/tactical-rescue-challenge

Photo by Timothy Koster, Connecticut National Guard Public Affairs Office

Posted in Army, Guest Post, LE, Medical, Training | 1 Comment »

New TacTec Trainer Weight Vest Colors from 5.11 Tactical

Wednesday, August 30th, 2023

The TacTec Trainer Weight Vest is very popular with those involved in CrossFit. It’s made from 600D polyester and features adjustable yoke shoulder straps with breathable mesh padding and is PALS compatible.

Fits 5.11 and Rogue weight plates and Tactec Weight Plate Sandbag.

The new colors include Kombu Green, Pacific Navy, and Sage Green.

www.511tactical.com/accessories/load-bearing-equipment

Note: This is NOT an armor carrier.

Posted in Load Carrying, Training | No Comments »

Garmin Smartwatches Help Launch U.S. Space Force Fitness Study

Monday, August 28th, 2023

Trial program measures Guardians’ physical activity and biometric data to assess readiness

Photo: U.S. Space Force / Rick Eldridge

OLATHE, Kan./August 28, 2023 — Garmin smartwatches are being deployed by the thousands to help assess the physical fitness of U.S. Space Force Guardians, the company (NYSE: GRMN) announced today. Commissioned by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), the two-year study will explore the effectiveness of smartwatch technology to supplant annual physical fitness assessments.

“Garmin is gratified to be part of this exciting research effort that will help ensure Space Force Guardians are physically prepared to perform their duties. The accurate health metrics and exceptional battery life of our smartwatches will provide a reliable snapshot of a Guardian’s physical readiness, potentially saving the U.S. Military time and money.” — Scott Burgett, Senior Director of Garmin Health Engineering

Guardians who actively participate in the study will be exempt from U.S. Air Force physical fitness assessments. Enrollment has been robust, with over two-thirds of the 8,400-strong Space Force signing up since the program was announced in May. To date, more than 6,000 Garmin smartwatches have been or will be issued to active military members who have agreed to log workouts and complete monthly surveys provided by AFRL, and a second wave of enrollment is expected to begin in October.

“By tracking two basic metrics—cardiorespiratory fitness and physical activity—we can quickly verify that a Guardian has met their physical requirements and is ready for duty,” said Dr. James Christensen, a product line lead with AFRL’s 711th Human Performance Wing. “We hope that continuous fitness assessment, implemented via wearable technology, will promote a higher, more consistent level of fitness across the force with expected outcomes like reduced injury and stress, improved resilience and higher overall operational performance.”

Garmin Instinct® 2 Solar and Forerunner® 55 smartwatches were chosen for the U.S. Space Force’s Continuous Fitness Assessment (CFA) project because they offer abundant battery life, high-quality biometric data and the ability to disable GPS functionality. Further, the Garmin Health API and secure data collection practices are compliant with federal privacy and cybersecurity standards for software, sensors and data encryption.

“We were pleased that the Garmin wearable ecosystem went through a rigorous U.S. Air Force cybersecurity and privacy review,” Burgett said. “The U.S. military has high security standards, and our system is designed end-to-end to protect sensitive user data.”

The AFRL team will analyze study results to determine the effectiveness of smartwatches relative to the current physical fitness tests and advise on future efforts to make smartwatches a permanent option. If successful, the program could be adopted by other branches of the Armed Services and include broader Department of Defense requirements such as musculoskeletal injury risk.

Garmin Health provides custom enterprise business solutions that leverage Garmin’s extensive wearable portfolio and high-quality sensor data for applications in the corporate wellness, population health, and patient monitoring markets. The Garmin Health API allows third parties to ask customers to share their data in accordance with their specific privacy policies. As part of a global company that designs, manufactures and ships products worldwide, Garmin Health supports its customers’ commerce and logistics needs, allowing enterprises to scale with a single, trusted provider. For more information, email our media team, connect with us on LinkedIn, or visit us online at garmin.com/health.

Posted in Press Release, Space, Training | No Comments »