Photo By Airman Spencer Hanson | Airmen from the 354th Force Support Squadron help setup floor tarps for Raven Beddown...... read more read more
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EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska -- The 354th Force Support Squadron recently held the second iteration of the Ready Raven Beddown exercise to improve and refine readiness within the squadron and promote cohesiveness for future deployments, March 25-27, 2024.
Exercises like Raven Beddown are key to preparing Airmen for real-world scenarios and giving commanders insight on improving readiness to generate 5th Generation fighter aircraft from both home bases and overseas. Furthermore, this training teaches Airmen valuable lessons and gives them experience under the Agile Combat Employment initiative.
“Raven Beddown is an initiative to test our infrastructure and capabilities,” said Staff Sgt. Tye Johnson, 354th FSS noncommissioned officer in charge, “to facilitate an influx of transient personnel in the event of an emergency and in conjunction with Pacific Air Forces readiness requirements.”
The exercise tested the capabilities of housing Airmen, in the event of a deployment, in the Baker Field House gymnasium. Participants stayed for two nights in the gymnasium and reported to work during the day. Airmen from the 355th Fighter Generation Squadron also participated in the exercise with the goal to gain experience and familiarize themselves with deployment environments.
“A large majority of the members have not participated in such an exercise, so this was a rare chance to have a peek into the rigorous role that FSS would need to play should Eielson need to accept follow-on forces,” said Senior Master Sgt. Paul Livaudais, 355th FGS weapons section chief.
Excising ACE knowledge and capabilities ensures that Airmen are proficient with the processes and procedures to operate in forward-deployed locations.
“Our members need to be well-versed on the flexibility that comes with operations out of austere locations,” Livaudais said. “Some of these forward operating locations will not have the normal infrastructure you would find at main bases, so Raven Beddown will be a routine real-world occurrence in some cases.”
The focus of the exercise was increasing the amount of Airmen being housed and efficiency. The unit capabilities went from 100 personnel staying one night to 150 for two nights while accommodating their schedules.
“This second beddown focused on how to improve how we in-process our members in a sufficient amount of time and making it easier to assign members to their sleeping arrangements,” said Airman 1st Class Andres Brand, 354th FSS deployment manager.
The unit plans to continue improving and refining these exercises to better support Eielson’s combat mission, ACE directives, and Pacific Air Forces mission requirements.
“As we continue to refine our process for receiving and bedding down forces, we amplify our capacity to support the fighter wing in both its war-time mission and in the event of an emergency,” said Lt. Col. Amanda Henry, 354th FSS commander.
| Date Taken: | 04.04.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 04.04.2024 18:27 |
| Story ID: | 467843 |
| Location: | EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, AK, US |
| Web Views: | 32 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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