McChord reservists participate in Patriot Defender

by Sandra Pishner
446th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

6/28/2013 - MCCHORD FIELD, Wash. -- Battling the heat and at times their own senior NCOs, security forces reservists from the 446th Security Forces Squadron here successfully navigated their way through security forces sustainment training at Fort Wolter, Texas.

The training, known as Patriot Defender, took 16 people from the 446th SFS through the paces of 21 core security forces tasks.  This is the first time in 10 years the squadron has participated in the sustainment training. However much of the course is also taught in the pre-deployment training Reservists attend prior to deploying.

Overseen by cadre from the 610th Security Forces Squadron, Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, Texas, the two-week training course included classroom time, land navigation, urban operations, mounted and dismounted operations, static and entry control point operations, and weapons firing.

All of the Airmen were certified for operation of the light-medium tactical vehicle and up-armored Humvee, and were trained in the Army's Humvee roll over simulator.

"Sustainment covers the security forces readiness tasks that we need to be certified on and trained on in order to fulfill our mission," explains Master Sgt. Michael Pate, 446th SFS. "Its 14 days of training covering all 21 core tasks, with all the changes that have been made from (lessons learned from Southwest Asia operations). Anything security forces does; this is where they accumulate everything together and ask 'How ready are you.' "

All the training done at Patriot Defender is for security forces from across the Air Force Reserve Command.

"We were combined into a 56-man flight with Dobbins (ARB, Ga.,) and Pope (Field, N.C.), and there were two other flights," said Senior Master Sgt. Michelle Helpenstell. "The whole program is 156 people, all Reservists."

Arriving at the training in Texas from the mild climate of Washington presented the McChord reservists with an additional challenge - staying hydrated in extreme heat.

"It took a while to acclimate to the heat, with ranged from 97 (degrees Fahrenheit) to 100," said Helpenstell.

The heat was not the only element Airman 1st Class Chessie Kirk had to acclimate to at Patriot Defender. Having just joined the unit from technical training in May, Kirk also had to get use to her fellow defenders.

"She did great," said Tech. Sgt. Dan Carroll, her supervisor. "We made her a squad leader and she really found her voice. She's not a big person, but she really carried her own and even when she was on restricted duty for dehydration, she refused to let anyone take her weapon."

Kirk, along with the 15 other McChord reservists meld into a strong team.

"What impressed me was how well we came together as a team, not only with our 16 people, but with the people from Dobbins and Pope," said Helpenstell. "The first couple days everyone was in their own little groups, but by the end we were just one big 56-man team."

That team learned together as the built up to the end of training field exercise.

"The training starts out with a crawl, walk, run and it culminates in a three-day field exercise where they incorporate all you've been training on the previous 12 days," said Pate.

"We excelled at pretty much everything we did," continues Pate, who was awarded the Lt. Joseph Helton Leadership Award. "We went from static defense, which we did for the ORI, to the mounted, dismounted patrols."

During the urban warfare portion of the training, the leadership from the flights, including Pate and Helpenstell, got to play the aggressors.

"That was a lot of fun," both Pate and Helpenstell said.

But more important than fun, was learning about changes in tactics that have occurred over the years.

"The counter IED and the mounted and dismounted patrols had the most changes in the training," said Carroll. "The mounted and dismounted patrols use to follow the Army tactics and now they follow the Marines tactics."