Street Fighter 101

Training for Battles of the Future

Thursday, May 20, 2004

By Senior Airman Stephen Hudson

All opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of Military.com

“Camp Blanding provides realistic training facilities for units who are getting ready to deploy for real world contingencies,” said Capt. Cecil Cauley, a range control officer. “Camp Blanding is great for training because we have a variety of terrains: everything from simulated desert environment to low land woodlands and swamp.”

Members of a support squad provide rear security for another squad as it enters a building looking for opposing forces in an exercise at Camp Blanding.

Image Credit: Senior Airman Stephen Hudson

CAMP BLANDING, Fla.
Members of the 820th Security Forces Group from Moody Air Force Base recently descended on the Florida National Guard’s training site at Camp Blanding to sharpen their skills in urban warfare.

This type of training has become vital to the U.S. military in recent years with the Marines and the Army leading the way, and now the Air Force has begun training their ground forces for the battlefield of the 21st century.

“We put them through a variety of scenarios designed to test basic skills, then we throw in different situations to see what their decision-making abilities are,” said Master Sgt. Robert Derrick, who oversees training for the group. “Our main goal is to ensure they get the best training they can and stay ahead of our enemies as far as tactics and techniques.”

Besides MOUT (Military Operations in Urbanized Warfare) training, the 143 airmen split into different areas to train at the automated rifle range and land navigation course, said Derrick.

(More: Military.com)

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Dan