Photo By Master Sgt. William Hopper | Airmen from the 122nd Security Forces Squadron from the 122nd Fighter Wing in Fort...... read more read more
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FORT CUSTER, Mich. -- Driving down a quiet oak lined road, members of the 122nd Security Forces Squadron make their way through turn after turn of dusty sand-strewn curves under an azure Michigan sky. The April air is brisk like a winter memory, fading with every passing spring day. Bag after bag, case by case the box truck empties, Airmen working swiftly like a line of sage green ants in a sea of blacktop. The sagging leaf springs labor through the ongoing commotion, raising the cumbersome truck bed back toward the heavens as it empties.
Bright crimson hats flow through the bustling crowd like fall leaves caught in the current of a winding forest stream. The sound of friendly banter fills the air, muffled only by the steady outbursts of laughter and shuffling boots against the dusty terrain.
The 122nd Security Forces must train at places like Fort Custer whenever heavy weapons are involved, and luckily for the squadron, Fort Custer always hits the mark.
“This training is important because these are deployment skills,” said Chief Master Sgt. Brian Minnick, a 122nd Security Forces NCO in charge at the 122nd Fighter Wing in Fort Wayne, Indiana. “We don’t use heavies in Fort Wayne, but when we deploy we need to be proficient on heavy weapons.”
“The team building that we have when we come up here is crucial to bringing a squadron this size together,” said Minnick. “You really get to know everyone when you’re living in a bunk right next to twenty other people.”
The other thing is the synergy from training with the fire department, services and other base members, said Minnick. Being at Fort Custer is similar to deployed training for other units as well, and those units also have the chance to get familiarization training, firing the heavy weapons as a bonus. It’s hard to build that kind of camaraderie with other units on drill weekends.
“I think my Airmen like training at Fort Custer because they get off our base and out from in front of a computer screen to do some real live hands-on training with weapons,” said Minnick. “It is long days and they get tired, but I guarantee they would prefer to be doing this over Computer Based Training.”
When members of the security forces need quality instruction on heavy weapons, Combat Arms Training and Maintenance instructors are up to the task.
“Up here I feel like we can get away from the everyday normal thinking of life,” said Staff Sgt. John D. Bills, a 122nd Security Forces Combat Arms Training and Maintenance instructor at the 122nd Fighter Wing in Fort Wayne, Indiana. “I just wish we would come up here more often to do more land navigation and get some better use of all the firing ranges.”
“I think it would be great if more people from the base would be able to come up here and have as much fun as we do,” said Bills. “It builds squad cohesion and the memories that last for years.”
Though field training may involve long dusty hours away from home and family, training with your fellow Airmen builds the type of camaraderie only those who have worn the uniform understand.
Piles of spent brass lay scattered about, still searing hot as the belt-fed weapons chug along in relentless succession. A heavy smell of gunpowder is in the air, mixing with the white chalky smoke of a brushfire sweeping across the backstop. The constant thud of automatic fire echoes like a thunderclap through a sprawling canyon. It settles upon your ears like the first familiar notes of your favorite song coming over the radio.
The 122nd Fighter Wing has a long history of heavy weapons training at locations like Fort Custer.
“My first time here was in 2000, when I came up to qualify as a staff sergeant,” said Maj. Chuck Goad, the 122nd Security Forces Commander at the 122nd Fighter Wing in Fort Wayne, Indiana. “We are one of the few career fields that gets this opportunity every single year.”
It’s hard to really get to know fellow Airmen at home station, said Goad. This is a great opportunity for the base personnel to interact and get to know each other in a different setting.
As the gunfire slows and fades to silence, stars burst like fireworks up above. Silhouettes of trees pierce over the horizon, resembling spindly fingers reaching for the endless lavender sky. The deafening roar of gunfire now replaced with the all but hushed roar of cicadas, screaming into the depths of the dark winding woods.
Shadowed figures murmur about, their flashlights crossing the landscape in a dance. Rhythmic metallic clanks of collecting spent brass echoes as the troops wearily make their way around the dark range, joking and cheerfully reminiscing of the day’s events.
| Date Taken: | 04.12.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 05.17.2015 16:29 |
| Story ID: | 163590 |
| Location: | FORT CUSTER, MI, US |
| Web Views: | 168 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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