Photo By Airman Will Sherwood | U.S. Air Force Airmen assigned to the 20th Mission Support Group (MSG) train on heavy...... read more read more
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SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. - - Airmen assigned to the 20th Mission Support Group (MSG) completed a group-wide training event at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, April 27 to 29, 2026. 20th MSG Airmen received training in various expeditionary skillsets to bolster their mission readiness throughout the three-day event.
Non-Commissioned Officers and junior enlisted Airmen from nearly every squadron within the 20th MSG participated in the training, developing skills in areas such as small shelter system deployment, preparing air cargo, post-attack reconnaissance procedures, and other tasks outside of the assigned duties they typically perform on a day-to-day basis.
1st Lt. Bryan Barrientos, 20th Civil Engineer Squadron readiness and emergency management flight commander, explained the rigorous demands of a deployed environment could require 20th MSG Airmen to work in areas outside of their specialties in order to keep their deployed missions sustained.
“For example, if the civil engineers need augmentees for rapid airfield damage repair, other Airmen in the MSG have the vehicle training with front end loaders and dump trucks to help out,” said Barrientos. “We wanted to show the rest of the group a piece of what each squadron does so that if they need to do something like this, they can execute.”
In the lead-up to the training, squadrons were tasked with identifying critical support functions and the skills required to man them during deployment in order to provide trainers and simulations for the event.
Tech. Sgt. Thomas Harkins, 20th Civil Engineering Unit Deployment Manager, noticed that the instructors for the event had their own learning experiences.
“My interactions with some of the instructors showed to be more of an eye opener of, ‘Oh, I may not be able to do this just by myself,’” Harkins explained. It gave them more of a reason to actually look into what would need to be trained to an augmentee to be able to help and finish the mission.”
20th MSG leadership plan to execute similar training events, ensuring that all Airmen assigned to the group continue to build expeditionary skills outside of their individual career fields to ensure readiness in all scenarios.
“The nature of the MSG’s units and focus on day-to-day duties can make it hard for our Airmen to see all of the moving parts that keep the mission moving,” said Barrientos. “Doing more group-level exercise like this would help everyone realize all the moving pieces that are going on here. It will be a big eye-opener for us in terms of realizing that our skills are parts of a broader whole.”
| Date Taken: | 05.06.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 05.06.2026 20:06 |
| Story ID: | 564607 |
| Location: | SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, SOUTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 23 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Mission-Ready: 20th MSG Executes Group-Wide Training Event, by Amn Will Sherwood, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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