374th Mission Support Group hone search and recovery training

Photo By Staff Sgt. Braden Anderson | Airman 1st Class Adam Conley, 374th Force Support Squadron, identifies simulated human remains during a search and recovery training exercise at Yokota Air Base, Japan, Sept. 18, 2021. The training prepares Airmen for their roles as members of a search and recovery team, who are responsible for recovering deceased service members at incident sites. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Braden Anderson)  

YOKOTA AIR BASE, TOKYO, JAPAN

09.27.2021

Story by Staff Sgt. Braden Anderson 

374th Airlift Wing

YOKOTA AIR BASE, JAPAN – Yokota Airmen from across the 374th Mission Support Group participated in a hands on search and recovery exercise as part of their mission support group training day Sept. 22, 2021.
For service members and their families, life in the military has no shortage of stressors. A significant stressor for U.S. Air Force Mortuary Affairs technicians, is ensuring that fallen service members and their families return home respectfully, with dignity, honor, and appreciation for their service.
“We’re in charge of taking care of those fallen members who are no longer with us, said Staff Sgt. Joseph Szafranski, 374th Force Support Squadron mortuary affairs technician. “Yokota is a hub for Pacific Air Forces, and we have fallen service members coming from Korea and Guam, so we play a vital piece making sure we return every single member back home to their families.”
One step at a time, 374th MSG Airmen walked side-by-side through a simulated aircraft crash without missing a single detail during the search and recovery training.
“We’re having search and recovery teams go through the aircraft looking for simulated human remains,” said Szafranski. “We identify them, collect them and simulate the process of returning them home with honor.”
After the simulated aircraft crash, the search and recovery training had a separate damaged building scenario for Airmen to train.
“Executing this mission takes a lot of work and you’ll put a lot of time in,” said Szafranski. “But, it is rewarding knowing the Air Force is working to do its best to take care of that fallen service member. When it comes down to mortuary operations, we need to take care of our people and make sure those families are never forgotten.”

• Date Taken: 09.27.2021
• Date Posted: 09.29.2021 01:46
• Story ID: 406056
• Location: YOKOTA AIR BASE, TOKYO, JP