Dover's port dawgs head downrange

by Airman 1st Class Samuel Taylor
436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

11/6/2012 - DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- Twenty Port Dawgs from the 436th Aerial Port Squadron completed Combat Airman Skills Training at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Oct. 26 in preparation for a deployment.

The 10-day course teaches Airmen how to navigate unfamiliar terrain, perform life-saving techniques while under fire, engage enemy targets, operate tactical vehicles, detect roadside bombs and survive in hostile conditions. Senior Master Sgt. Daniel Spain, air freight superintendant with the 436th Aerial Port Squadron, said the training did more than that.

"[CAST] increases one's ability to critically think and adapt under pressure," said Spain. "It brought us together as a team too. We ate breakfast and dinner as a team, and really got to know one another."

During the training the Port Dawgs endured simulated bullets, bombs and attacks, and some very real action. Brooklyn, N.Y., native Tech. Sgt. William Lonergan, NCO in charge of CAST, said that is the goal of the course.

"This course is designed to give Airmen the basic skills they may need on a deployment, so that if they have a bad day, they know how to keep it from becoming a worse day," said Lonergan.

These skills were put to the test when the Port Dawgs tackled the field training exercise, the culminating event of CAST, where the techniques taught in classroom settings days prior were put into application.

Hopefully, the tools the Port Dawgs gained from CAST will never have to leave the toolbox, but the point is they are there, said Lonergan.

"Though I hope these Airmen never have to use the skills they learn here, the truth is that some will - we make sure they are ready," he said. "The training is challenging - we train to objective, not to time - but the more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war."