Gear up

Airman 1st Class Tyler Omara, a firefighter with the 96th Civil Engineer Group, secures his mask as Airman 1st Class Daniel Hayden brings in more equipment during a fire exercise at the auto hobby shop Oct. 5 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. Firefighters had to enter the smoke-filled facility find and put out the fire and rescue two simulated victims as part of the Operational Readiness Exercise’s that took place throughout the week. (U.S. Air Force photo/Samuel King Jr.)

Call for help

Louis Szymanski, a firefighter with the 96th Civil Engineer Group, calls in for help while Anthony Nespoli waits to begin extraction of a simulated victim during a house fire exercise in base housing Oct. 5 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. Firefighters had to enter the smoke-filled home, find and put out the fire and rescue two simulated victims as part of the Operational Readiness Exercise’s that took place throughout the week. (U.S. Air Force photo/Samuel King Jr.)

Buddy care

A firefighter and two medics secure an injured firefighter before moving him away from the simulated house fire in base housing Oct. 5 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. Firefighters had to enter the smoke-filled home, find and put out the fire and rescue two simulated victims as part of the Operational Readiness Exercise’s that took place throughout the week. (U.S. Air Force photo/Samuel King Jr.)

Weaponized

Weapons loaders carry a missile to an awaiting aircraft prior to a Combat Archer mission at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. Combat Archer is a weapons system evaluation program mission conducted by the 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group. The group is responsible for air-to-ground and air-to-air weapons evaluation. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. John Hoffmann)

33rd FW Weapons Loading Trainer delivered

Tech. Sgt. Jeff Taggart, of Det. 19, 372nd Training Squadron, maneuvers the training weapon underneath the recently delivered F-35 Lightning II Weapons Loading Trainer. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Greg Steiner, of the 359th Training Squadron, guides it into its permanent home at the 33rd Fighter Wing's Academic Training Center Sept. 23. Eric Litton, a Lockheed Martin weapons instructor, monitors Marine Sgt. Joel Perkins, of the 359th Training Squadron, directing Joint Tech Data procedures utilizing the Portable Maintenance Aid (laptop). Capt. Mike Byrd, of the ATC staff, evaluates the load process. The ATC is the schoolhouse of the F-35 Integrated Training Center for pilot and maintenance joint strike fighter training in all three of Department of Defense aircraft variants. (U.S. Air Force photo/Samuel King Jr.)

Point & shoot

Master Sgt. William Newcomb, the NCO-in-charge of training for the 96th Security Forces Squadron, fires his X-26 Taser at a target across the room during a demonstration at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. All 96 SFS personnel must attend an eight-hour course to carry a taser. It is required annual training to maintain certification for the device. 16 SFS Airmen and civilians were trained or re-certified through at class Sept. 22. Six people received exposure to the taser’s 50,000 volts for five seconds to better understand, first-hand, how the body reacts to the shot. It is not a requirement to receive exposure to the taser to carry the weapon. (U.S. Air Force photo/Samuel King Jr.)