Six security forces Airmen volunteer year of service

  • Published
  • By Chrissy Cuttita
  • 96th ABW Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  It is not every day young Airmen decide to voluntarily put their lives on hold so that they can work for the Army in a year-long deployment to train local police in the war-torn streets of Iraq.

Yearly this opportunity is offered to Air Force members wearing a security forces career badge and, once again, the squadron here had patriotic men and women step up to the plate after the Equal Plus listing hit their email. Six of the 350 Airmen assigned to the 96th Security Forces Squadron answered the call, were accepted for the position and boarded a bus to their first stop in deployment Saturday.

"They are great Americans for taking on this dangerous mission outside the wire," said Lt. Col. Timothy Meserve, 96th SFS commander. "These Airmen will play a key role in building a new Iraq which is something to be proud of."

During the last five years more than a dozen squadron members have answered their nation's call for support in the Global War on Terrorism voluntarily in similar opportunities. This year's group has an average age of 21 and two years of service time. Four of them have at least a six-month deployment experience completed and all met the requirements necessary for them to join other Security Forces Airmen as members of a police transition team.

Our office gets them geared up, making sure they have the appropriate heavy weapons qualifications for their location and other essentials like up-to-date shot records, equipment issued, uniforms and training, said Master Sgt. James Wright, 96th SFS Superintendent of Logistics and Resources.

"It's a process," the NCO said about the voluntary in-lieu of tasking application process. "Information from supervisors let us make sure we are sending the right people. Like any deployment, we don't want to send anyone ill-prepared."

Other than obtaining the job skill sets needed, the Airmen will also face cultural challenges.

"It's something different," said Senior Airman Ashley Tubbs, 96th SFS response team leader who returned from a similar deployment in October 2007. "(The experience) makes you grow up quick and you change your outlook on life."

Today the Airman continues to talk to servicemembers she met while overseas as part of a 13-man military police squad who would routinely inspect and train a handful of Iraqi stations in their district. She shared the lessons learned from her own military police training, assignment here and previous deployment in an effort to assist Iraqi police carry out similar duties.

"It was a learning experience for everybody," Airman Tubbs said. "You have to trust your team."

She predicted that her six deployed squadron members would gain a lot of help with career progression just by the networking they will do throughout the experience, as she did.

The first stop on the deployment for the six volunteers is a two-month advanced training with the Army at Ft. Dix, N.J. They will hone their skills on everything from driving convoys to combat skills. When completed, they will have approximately a week-long training at their undisclosed deployed location in the Middle East.

"Traveling around to police precincts adds an additional level of danger to a typical Iraqi deployment," said Sergeant Wright. "It is a great thing to see that many young Airmen deploy voluntarily to go into harms way for a year."

The Airmen who deployed from the 96th SFS are Senior Airman Brandon Thomas; Airman 1st Classes Analissa Anguiano, Samuel Beavers, Craig Jordan, Sean Jenkins and Airman Candace Montgomery.