Airmen complete Emergency Management accelerated upgrade training

Photo By Staff Sgt. Christa Anderson | U.S. Air Force Civil Engineering members from units across the Air National Guard, receive plotting instructions from course inductor Michael McLaughlin, during upgrade training, at the 119th Wing Air National Guard Base, Regional Training Site, Fargo, N.D., May 22, 2023. The airmen were completing upgrade training for their career field to meet training requirements in an accelerated method. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Christa Anderson)  

FARGO, ND, UNITED STATES

05.25.2023

Story by Senior Airman Christa Anderson 

119th Wing, North Dakota Air National Guard

Story by Senior Airman Christa Anderson 119th WG/PA
Civil Engineering Airmen from units all across the Air National Guard (ANG) completed upgrade training over the past six weeks, at the 119th Wing Air National Guard Base, Regional Training Site (RTS) located in Fargo, North Dakota.
National Guard Bureau and the leaders of the Emergency Management (EM) career field determined that holding an upgrade training is the best way for airman in the civil engineering career field to attain their next level of training.
“Most specialties do not have a way for upgrade training unless it’s from their full-time staff,” said course instructor Michael McLaughlin. “We are a pilot program, that is working to get our people their upgrade training from a separate entity.”
Airmen come from various ANG units to the North Dakota RTS to get concentrated upgrade training. The training provides eighty-five to ninety-two percent of the overall upgrade training which fulfills the airmen’s career development course requirements which allows them to finish their training in an accelerate time frame.
“With this training, there is a lot more time dedicated and set aside to actually getting hands on the equipment and learning how to calibrate it in a way we did not get to learn in technical school,” said Airman 1st Class Mikayla Osbey of the 133rd Civil Engineering Squadron.
The training covers the civil engineering Career Field Education Training Plan (CFETP), focusing on using equipment that not all flights have access too. As well as certain program initiatives ANG and EM, Chiefs decided should be the priorities for the coming years.
This course allows airmen to get more familiar with the equipment through hands on experience and through repetitions of use.
“Getting hands on the equipment lets you understand how the smallest changes make drastic changes in how the base will implement tactics to overcome and get back to mission capable situations,” said Staff Sgt. Alex Walker of the 123rd Civil Engineering Squadron.

• Date Taken: 05.25.2023
• Date Posted: 06.07.2023 13:28
• Story ID: 446415
• Location: FARGO, ND, US