LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. -- The 19th Security Forces Squadron is continuing to equip defenders with foundational skills and knowledge using a locally developed 30-day training program focused on Agile Combat Employment and enhancing leadership qualities for Mission Ready Airmen.
The training program was implemented in 2023 and aims to reinforce the fundamentals of air base ground defense and prepare Airmen for missions they don’t typically encounter daily.
"We start with the basics, everything from their required security forces training, law enforcement, the Fourth Amendment, domestic violence, those types of things," said Tech. Sgt. Kegan Hall, 19th SFS noncommissioned officer in charge of training and readiness.
During the final three weeks of training, the focus shifts from the basics to ground combat skills where Airmen learn how to set up their gear, properly use and manipulate their weapons and move effectively as individuals and within teams.
This training is crucial for scenarios like “shoot, move, communicate” exercises and close-quarter combat.
"We teach them how to establish and set up an air base, or in this case, a logistics support area," Hall said. "They do everything from an extensive three-day mission planning class that teaches them everything they need to know, from getting a mission to how to plan their piece of it, and then all the way to execution and after-action reports."
The training culminated in a two-day field exercise where Airmen put their skills to the test by establishing security, setting up work-rest cycles and responding to simulated attacks.
Hall emphasized the importance of these exercises in building confidence and decision-making skills.
"We're just hoping to give them the repetitions and the confidence to not just follow a checklist,” Hall said, “But when things go wrong in that checklist, to be able to make decisions in real-time using our commander's intent and mission command to execute the mission even without instruction."