New Hampshire Defenders Sharpen Skills

NEWINGTON, N.H. - Defenders from the 157th Air Refueling Wing at Pease Air National Guard Base tackled a new training experience to hone their abilities in close-quarters battle, land navigation and tactical combat casualty care Aug. 3-7.

The training was developed and led by New Hampshire Air National Guard subject matter experts and executed with support from local, state and federal partners. It created a low-cost way to ensure base Defenders are ready to protect Airmen and aircraft in any environment.

"The military trainings we have access to are expensive and hard to get into, especially for Guardsmen," said Master Sgt. Bill Werner, 157th Security Force Squadron operations superintendent and an officer with the Portsmouth Police Department. "We realized we had all the tools in-house to do these trainings locally with our own state resources."

The 157th SFS leadership tapped into their subject matter experts and empowered them to create the advanced, five-day, in-house training to upskill their Airmen and develop the next generation of experts.

The effort aligns with the Air Force's efforts to shift to the multi-capable Airman framework and prepare Airmen for deployments to support agile combat employment operations.

The planners, many of whom also serve in law enforcement as civilians, leveraged their extensive experience and networks to pull together the curriculum and a qualified team of instructors from the local area. About 25 Airmen participated in the training.

"As Defenders, our main mission is protecting the base, personnel and aircraft. To do that there are certain skills we need to be very good at," said Werner.

The 157th SFS leveraged training facilities across New Hampshire to make the training as realistic as possible. They practiced day and night land navigation in Pembroke; trained on various weapons on weapons ranges around the state; learned close-quarters battle and building-clearing skills at facilities in Portsmouth, Hampton and Dover; and learned tactical combat casualty care, earning CPR certification and practicing helicopter medical evacuation.

Werner enlisted fellow Defenders to develop the curriculum and conduct the training. Tech. Sgt. Jacob Kelly developed the land navigation master class, Tech Sgt. Peter Connor developed the close-quarters battle master class, and Staff Sgt. Matthew Black was responsible for the TCCC master class.

Community partners who helped included Portsmouth and Hampton police, the Seacoast Emergency Response Team and building owners who allowed the team to use their facilities. The New Hampshire Army National Guard, which provided aviation support.

Staff Sgt. Kyle Robinson, who joined the New Hampshire Air National Guard as a Defender about six months ago and served on active duty for seven years, said the training was one of the best he has experienced.

"The training was phenomenal," he said. "We're employing what we learn throughout each day and rolling it all together at the end. I loved it!"

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