Down range

Staff Sgt. Andres Cabral, of the 49th Security Forces Squadron, aims his weapon downrange while waiting for the patrol to move during the three-day Brave Defender field training exercise April 27 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The exercise is the culmination of Air Force Materiel Command’s six-week security forces deployment training, administered by the 96th Ground Combat Training Squadron. GCTS instructors teach 10 training classes a year, which consists of improvised explosive device detection and reaction, operating in an urban environment, mission planning, land navigation, casualty care and more. More than 100 active-duty and National Guard Airmen attended this training. (U.S. Air Force photo/Samuel King Jr.)

Look out

Airman 1st Class LaSondra Arredondo, of the 49th Security Forces Squadron, checks her right side during the three-day Brave Defender field training exercise April 27 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The exercise is the culmination of Air Force Materiel Command’s six-week security forces deployment training, administered by the 96th Ground Combat Training Squadron. GCTS instructors teach 10 training classes a year, which consists of improvised explosive device detection and reaction, operating in an urban environment, mission planning, land navigation, casualty care and more. More than 100 active-duty and National Guard Airmen attended this training. (U.S. Air Force photo/Samuel King Jr.)

Patrol

Airman 1st Class LaSondra Arredondo, of the 49th Security Forces Squadron, and her squad wait to go outside the wire on patrol during the three-day Brave Defender field training exercise April 27 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The exercise is the culmination of Air Force Materiel Command’s six-week security forces deployment training, administered by the 96th Ground Combat Training Squadron. GCTS instructors teach 10 training classes a year, which consists of improvised explosive device detection and reaction, operating in an urban environment, mission planning, land navigation, casualty care and more. More than 100 active-duty and National Guard Airmen attended this training. (U.S. Air Force photo/Samuel King Jr.)

Aftermath

Reminders of the night’s firefight are still visible as Airman 1st Class Ryan Moulton, of the 49th Security Forces Squadron, checks his weapon before his patrol during the three-day Brave Defender field training exercise April 27 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The exercise is the culmination of Air Force Materiel Command’s six-week security forces deployment training, administered by the 96th Ground Combat Training Squadron. GCTS instructors teach 10 training classes a year, which consists of improvised explosive device detection and reaction, operating in an urban environment, mission planning, land navigation, casualty care and more. More than 100 active-duty and National Guard Airmen attended this training. (U.S. Air Force photo/Samuel King Jr.)

Casualty care

Staff Sgt. Justin Goad, of the 49th Security Forces Squadron, places a tourniquet on a simulated victim of an attack while on patrol during the three-day Brave Defender field training exercise April 27 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The exercise is the culmination of Air Force Materiel Command’s six-week security forces deployment training, administered by the 96th Ground Combat Training Squadron. GCTS instructors teach 10 training classes a year, which consists of improvised explosive device detection and reaction, operating in an urban environment, mission planning, land navigation, casualty care and more. More than 100 active-duty and National Guard Airmen attended this training. (U.S. Air Force photo/Samuel King Jr.)

Tracking

Senior Airman Travis Turner, of the 49th Security Forces Squadron, takes notes regarding the movements of his squad during a patrol at the three-day Brave Defender field training exercise April 27 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The exercise is the culmination of Air Force Materiel Command’s six-week security forces deployment training, administered by the 96th Ground Combat Training Squadron. GCTS instructors teach 10 training classes a year, which consists of improvised explosive device detection and reaction, operating in an urban environment, mission planning, land navigation, casualty care and more. More than 100 active-duty and National Guard Airmen attended this training. (U.S. Air Force photo/Samuel King Jr.)

Land Nav

Staff Sgt.s Kristopher Sherbondy and Justin Goad, of the 49th Security Forces Squadron, determine their direction through the woods of Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., in search of a weapons cache at the three-day Brave Defender field training exercise April 27. The exercise is the culmination of Air Force Materiel Command’s six-week security forces deployment training, administered by the 96th Ground Combat Training Squadron. GCTS instructors teach 10 training classes a year, which consists of improvised explosive device detection and reaction, operating in an urban environment, mission planning, land navigation, casualty care and more. More than 100 active-duty and National Guard Airmen attended this training. (U.S. Air Force photo/Samuel King Jr.)

COIN Op

Tech. Sgt. Jarrod Healy, a guardsman from the 114th Security Forces Squadron, was part of the first counter-insurgency operation of the three-day Brave Defender field training exercise April 26 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The exercise is the culmination of Air Force Materiel Command’s six-week security forces deployment training, administered by the 96th Ground Combat Training Squadron. GCTS instructors teach 10 training classes a year, which consists of improvised explosive device detection and reaction, operating in an urban environment, mission planning, land navigation casualty care and more. More than 100 active-duty and National Guard Airmen attended this training. (U.S. Air Force photo/Samuel King Jr.)

Walk in the woods

A squad of security forces Airmen walk between villages while on the first counter-insurgency operation of the three-day Brave Defender field training exercise April 26 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The exercise is the culmination of Air Force Materiel Command’s six-week security forces deployment training, administered by the 96th Ground Combat Training Squadron. GCTS instructors teach 10 training classes a year, which consists of improvised explosive device detection and reaction, operating in an urban environment, mission planning, land navigation casualty care and more. More than 100 active-duty and National Guard Airmen attended this training. (U.S. Air Force photo/Samuel King Jr.)

Interaction

Tech. Sgt. Kristopher King, a guardsman from the 114th Security Forces Squadron, interacts with a villager while on the first dismounted counter-insurgency operation of the three-day Brave Defender field training exercise April 26 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The exercise is the culmination of Air Force Materiel Command’s six-week security forces deployment training, administered by the 96th Ground Combat Training Squadron. GCTS instructors teach 10 training classes a year, which consists of improvised explosive device detection and reaction, operating in an urban environment, mission planning, land navigation casualty care and more. More than 100 active-duty and National Guard Airmen attended this training. (U.S. Air Force photo/Samuel King Jr.)

Inspect

A senior airman checks a camp visitor for weapons at one of the entry control points during the three-day Brave Defender field training exercise April 26 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The exercise is the culmination of Air Force Materiel Command’s six-week security forces deployment training, administered by the 96th Ground Combat Training Squadron. GCTS instructors teach 10 training classes a year, which consists of improvised explosive device detection and reaction, operating in an urban environment, mission planning, land navigation, casualty care and more. More than 100 active-duty and National Guard Airmen attended this training. (U.S. Air Force photo/Samuel King Jr.)

COIN ops

Lt. Col. Scott Foley, the 633rd Security Forces Squadron commander, speaks with the village elder on the first dismounted counter-insurgency operation of the three-day Brave Defender field training exercise April 26 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The exercise is the culmination of Air Force Materiel Command’s six-week security forces deployment training, administered by the 96th Ground Combat Training Squadron. GCTS instructors teach 10 training classes a year, which consists of improvised explosive device detection and reaction, operating in an urban environment, mission planning, land navigation casualty care and more. Foley, the former commander of the 96th Security Forces Squadron, was just one of more than 100 active-duty and National Guard Airmen to attend this training. (U.S. Air Force photo/Samuel King Jr.)