Arctic Warrior August 9, 2013 ‘Spirit of Tuskeegee’ Becomes 477Th FG Flagship
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With the school year beginning Aug. 21, prepare your students for traveling to school safely, doing homework, BACK TO and enduring deployments SCHOOL Community feature, B-1 JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON’S SOURCE FOR NEWS ARCTIC WARRIOR August 9, 2013 www.jber.af.mil Volume 4, No. 31 ARCTIC ENFORCERS TEAM UP Civilian furlough cut from 11 to six days American Forces Press Service Hundreds of thousands of Defense De- partment civilian employees who have had to take a weekly unpaid day off from work since July 8 are getting some relief, as the total number of furlough days has been reduced from 11 to six, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced Tuesday. Savings and the ability to reprogram funds made possible Tuesday’s announce- ment by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel that unpaid furlough days for about 650,000 Pfc. Jeremy Calvin, assigned to the 164th Military Police Company, 793d Military Police Battalion, a native of El Paso, Texas, civilian employees are being reduced. covers a window during a situational training exercise at Baumeister City Military Operations on Urban Terrain Complex, July 24. Effective immediately, furloughs are The MP Soldiers trained on various team-based scenarios aimed at testing their abilities to adapt to rapidly changing situations over for all DoD Education Activity person- under stressful physical and mental conditions. (U.S. Air Force photos/Justin Connaher) nel on 10-month contracts – mostly teachers and support personnel working in the activ- his lap. After an extremely tense moment, the a simulated weapons cache, prompting the ity’s school system – so the 2013 school year JBER MPs team managed to peacefully disarm the man Soldiers to process the find and report the will not be affected, officials said. and detain him for questioning. intelligence to higher headquarters. In a message announcing the reduc- This scenario often plays out in the vil- Burt said Phase Two entailed a patrol tion, Hagel said that since he announced gain practice, lages of Afghanistan, but in this case, it was through rough terrain with brush as high as the 11-day furlough in May, “Congress has part of the 164th MP’s situational training seven feet tall. approved most of a large reprogramming exercise at the Baumeister City Military Op- “[JBER has] probably one of the best request that we submitted, … giving us the confidence in erations on Urban Terrain Complex July 24. training areas, because you’re going to get flexibility to move funds across accounts. Sgt. William Burt, of Lufkin, Texas, who to test your endurance,” he said. “You get The military services have been aggressive combat training served as a 164th MP observer/controller to see what you’re made of.” in identifying ways to hold down costs, and during the exercise, said the STX lanes The culminating event for Phase Two we have been successful in shifting savings JBER Public Affairs staff report tested the mettle of Soldiers in three phases was tactical care of a casualty while under … to meet our highest priority needs.” – land navigation, movement to contact, and fire. During this phase, teams were required When Hagel reluctantly decided to FC. JEREMY CALVIN WAS room clearance/detainee operations. to carry a 200-pound dummy on a stretcher covered in sweat under the weight Phase One began when the company left over uneven terrain. XXSee FURLOUGH, A-3 of his helmet, body armor and the unit motorpool en route to the training “The dummy has to be heavy,” Burt hundreds of rounds of ammuni- site. Upon arrival, the Soldiers received a said. “Because, if that was one of your tion. He crouched behind his report from a simu- battle buddies down The general Pteam leader in a narrow, dusty alley in a lated host nation “You get to see what range, they would village reported to be occupied by the in- security agency be an average of surgency. requiring them to 170 pounds plus with four hats Because he was welded to his team find three pieces of you’re made of.” whatever gear they leader and the Soldier hunched behind him, it intelligence. wear.” Hoog reflects on a took little prompting for the El Paso, Texas, The impromptu Calvin said Phase native to move when the team entered the land-navigation course tested – Sgt. William Burt Three was unique, challenging command house. All four Soldiers swiftly fanned out the MPs’ ability to move over rough terrain because it involved entering and clearing into the small sitting room, making sure to without the assistance of a GPS, said Sgt. buildings while using non-lethal means to By Airman 1st Class Omari Bernard cover all windows and entryways but find- Matthew Ramage, a 164th MP team leader neutralize armed personnel. Because citizens JBER Public Affairs ing nothing. and a native of Cleveland. in host nations can often be legally armed Stacking up again, the 164th Military Po- “You should always have a map and a with automatic, military-grade weapons; it Air Force Lt. Gen. Stephen Hoog, Com- lice Company fire team repeated the process compass,” Ramage said of the tried-and-true is critical for Soldiers to be able to discern mander of Alaskan Command, Eleventh Air for the adjacent living room, but with decid- military instruments. “The basics are always when to use lethal force, and when to disarm Force, Alaskan North American Aerospace edly different results. This time, they found important.” Defense Command Region and Joint Task a man with an AK-47 assault rifle cradled on The last point the MPs navigated to was XXSee STX, A-3 Force Alaska, is a man who wears many hats. In this capacity, he commands and more than 21,000 active-duty, Guard and Reserve personnel spanning Alaska, Hawaii and Guam. Hoog moves on to new challenges today, as he relinquishes command and moves to a new assignment at the Pentagon. As the senior military officer in Alaska responsible for integration of all military activities in the Alaska theater of operations, Hoog integrated active-duty, Guard and Re- serve members of all services in Alaska dur- ing a time of budget cuts and sequestration. “It’s been a very dynamic year and a half,” Hoog said. “Sequestration has been coloring everything for the last five to six months. I think the biggest thing that I have MOS 31B been able to work with the staff here is to Army Military Occupational get more cooperation or at least interface Specialty 31B, Military Police, between the various commands and folks entails 20 weeks of One Sta- in Alaska.” tion Unit Training at Fort Leon- As a result of working relationships ard Wood, Mo. In addition to between sister services and combining their traditional law enforcements strengths and recourses, Hoog provided an skills such as criminal investi- integrated way forward to give options for gation and traffic control, MPs the future in a time of dwindling budgets. are also skilled in battlefield tasks such as route security Spc. Greg Hadley, 164th MP, a native of Leesburg, Ga., guards a simulated detainee during XXSee HOOG, A-3 and detainee operations. situational training exercise lanes and team qualifications at Baumeister City, July 24. PERMIT NO. 220 NO. PERMIT Inside 3rd MOS case colors, inactivate: A-2 477th FG welcome new flagship ANCHORAGE, AK ANCHORAGE, PAID Dolphin helicopters critical for Coast Guard .......... A-2 Airmen of the 477th Fighter U.S. POSTAGE U.S. Briefs and Announcements ..................................... A-4 Group induct F-22 Raptor tail PRESORTED STANDARD PRESORTED Matters of Faith: Comprehensive fitness .................B-2 number 147 as flagship, Community Happenings community calendar .........B-3 Page A-2 Coast Guardsmen teach water safety .......................B-4 A-2 Arctic Warrior August 9, 2013 ‘Spirit of Tuskeegee’ becomes 477th FG flagship By Air Force Capt. Ashley Conner incredible opposition, the Tuskegee Airmen 477th Fighter Group Public Affairs served their country. We should strive to emulate their courage and commitment in A Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson the face of whatever challenges are presented F-22 has been transformed into the 477th to us today. That is the Spirit of Tuskegee.” Fighter Group flagship with the words The 477th was reactivated here in “Spirit of Tuskegee” painted across the tail, October 2007 when the group became the a nod to the unit’s Tuskegee Airmen heritage. Air Force Reserve Command’s first F-22 “We are part of history. Whether we Raptor unit and the only Air Force Reserve realize it or not, what we do on a day-to-day unit in Alaska. The 477th Fighter Group basis is writing the pages of history,” said associates with the active duty 3rd Wing to Air Force Col. Tyler Otten, 477th Fighter maintain and fly the F-22’s assigned to the Group commander, who was the first pilot active duty. to fly the group’s flagship after the paint job. “We have different challenges today “Maintaining our connection to our lineage on the national, Air Force, and personal provides a foundation on which we build. levels – yet our Airmen continue to serve,” The Tuskegee heritage of the 477th is rich Otten said. “Despite our current challenges with courage, service and commitment, the men and women of the 477th continue which serves as a guide to our efforts today.” to serve their country, and do so admirably. Coordination began in 2011 to have The Tuskegee Airmen changed the shape the Reserve flagship tail flash painted with and future of the Army Air Corps of their “Spirit of Tuskegee” to recognize the ac- day. As we go forward with our total-force complishments of the Tuskegee Airmen.