The 114th Logistics Readiness Squadron hosted two Airmen from the 254th Red Horse Squadron, Guam Air National Guard for a three-week joint training April 15 - May 6, 2023.
Airman 1st Class Allan Angoco, 254th Red Horse Squadron special vehicle mechanic, and Senior Airman Eric Villanueva, 254th Red Horse Squadron special vehicle mechanic, as well as Airmen from the South Dakota, North Dakota, and Minnesota Air National Guard units for a two-part class at Lake Area Technical College in Watertown.
“We attended a hydraulics and diesel emissions class at Lake Area Tech,” said Angoco
The rest of their time was spent getting hands-on training on snow removal equipment with the South Dakota Air National Guard.
This training is one of the first opportunities the 254th Red Horse Squadron has sent Airmen to, as their focus is maintaining their ability to be entirely self-sufficient as a whole in a deployed environment.
“It's a little different operation than a fighter wing like us,” said Chief Master Sgt. John Schmidt, 114th Logistics Readiness Squadron vehicle management superintendent, “These guys are more of a construction based unit where they go out and build roads, and tents, and other infrastructure needed to set up an air base. That's part of the reason they don't have this stuff, not only because of their geographic location, but also because red horse units don't usually do this stuff.”
The joint training is also beneficial to Angoco and Villanueva by fulfilling their upgrade training as it prepares them for the future.
“It’s good for us because you never know where we will deploy. Where we’re from, we don’t have a lot of this equipment accessible to us,” said Villanueva.