LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. --
The 19th Security Forces Squadron have trained Airmen
that are critical to national defense and are the first impression of the base.
Team Little Rock’s Defenders are on the clock 24/7 and
are ready to contribute to the Combat Airlift mission but they have hundreds of
hours of training to get to that point.
A team of experts have the responsibility of ensuring all members of the
19th SFS have the skills and knowledge necessary for defending the airlift
mission, base assets and its community.
The mission of the training flight is to identify and
deliver emergent and future force protection and force application solutions
through modeling and simulation.
The training team at the 19th SFS consists of the Unit
Training Manager and three instructors who provide training around the clock to
meet the needs of the Defenders’ schedules.
“We are responsible for managing the annual training
requirements for each SFS member and civilian,” said U.S. Air Force Master
Sgt. Justin Buchholz, 19th SFS NCOIC of
Training. “We oversee the standard training tasks such as computer based
training, Green Dot, resilience and other basic training needs.”
Keeping training current and relevant to evolving
threats is a main goal of the 19th SFS training flight.
“With 217 hours of training covering weapons
qualification, baton, TASER, legal studies, riot control,
shoot-move-communicate, force on force and a multitude of other subjects, we
stay busy,” he said. “We manage a weapons and ground safety program along with
maintaining the 19th SFS Military Operations on Urban Terrain village; Air Mobility
Commands only MOUT facility.”
The mission and personnel of Little Rock Air Force
Base also benefit from the training the Defenders receive.
“We are responsible for the 19th Airlift Wing
Expeditionary Active Shooter Training program,” Buchholz said. “We train
approximately 1,000 Airmen per year simulating an active shooter and what to do
in those situations.”
The constant training of 19th SFS personnel is
important to not only the Combat Airlift mission, but to all missions.
“Adversaries are constantly attempting to find
weaknesses in our defenses,” said Staff Sgt. Thomas McFarland, 19th SFS
training flight. “Whether it’s taking pictures of our security, or attempting
to breach it, we must train to recognize and counter those examples. We train
like we do to eliminate our weaknesses.”
The Combat Airlift mission extends its reach to the
entirety of the world and 19th SFS Defenders go where the mission goes.
“Most of our training is team focused,” McFarland
said. “We need to provide our Defenders with every opportunity to work together
as a singular unit and break away from individualism. Every Defender
understands that the Defender on their left and right is doing exactly what
they were trained to do and that their life is in good hands when the bullets
start flying.”
When it comes to defense of American assets, 19th SFS
need to be prepared to handle any situation the world may throw at them.
“Just like our motto states, ‘Anywhere, all the time’,
we are ready to go and are ready for anything,” McFarland said.