Combat control students Staff Sgt. David Overton (left) and Airman 1st Class Ryan Buenaflor, both from Pope Air Force Base, N.C., listen to their operational briefing before heading out to set up a landing strip at the Sicily Drop Zone here. Combat controllers are trained to infiltrate forward areas by whatever means necessary -- including static-line or free-fall parachuting, scuba diving or over land -- and control air traffic in and out of the area until more permanent facilities can be set up. Combat control students Tech. Sgt. Jarrett Heavenston and Senior Airman Dru Wasson set up the communications they will need to control air traffic at the Sicily Drop Zone here. Combat controllers are trained to infiltrate forward areas by whatever means necessary -- including static-line or free-fall parachuting, scuba diving or over land -- and control air traffic in and out of the area until more permanent facilities can be set up. Master Sgt. Ronny Moss, an instructor at the Combat Control School at Pope Air Force Base, N.C., oversees a student who is conducting airfield operations during an exercise at the Sicily Drop Zone here. Combat controllers are trained to infiltrate forward areas by whatever means necessary -- including static-line or free-fall parachuting, scuba diving or over land -- and control air traffic in and out of the area until more permanent facilities can be set up. A Combat Control School instructor from Pope Air Force Base, N.C., approaches the ground after parachuting from 12,500 feet into the Sicily Drop Zone here. Combat controllers are trained to infiltrate forward areas by whatever means necessary -- including static-line or free-fall parachuting, scuba diving or over land -- and control air traffic in and out of the area until more permanent facilities can be set up. New Combat Controllers First To Experience Entire Pipeline Air Force Special Operations Command's newest combat controllers graduated from Combat Control School at Pope Air Force Base, N.C., on Sept. 25, earning the right to wear the scarlet beret. Class 01-03 is the first to complete the new training pipeline for combat controllers, which now continues after students graduate from the school and enter a 12-month Special Tactics Advanced Skills Training program here. The school provides training to enlisted and officer candidates, and there are four classes a year with an average of 11 trainees per course. "We started the course with 13 CCT candidates and graduated 10," said Senior Master Sgt. Bob Rankin, CCS commandant. "Some of the candidates were recycled due to physical injuries, while some didn't make it because they didn't meet our stringent requirements. No matter how we organize the pipeline and training, our ultimate responsibility is to ensure those graduating this course know what it takes to meet the demands of being a combat controller." The number of combat control candidates is expected to increase as recruiting efforts improve, Rankin said. In fact, he said the January 2002 class is currently projecting 21 students. Training at the school is divided up into blocks of instruction that include tactics, communication, land navigation, assault zone and air traffic control labs, demolitions, fire support, and a comprehensive field training exercise. "There are times when you loose track of what day it is just because you are so focused and busy during the week," said Senior Airman Patrick Crow, who served with the Marine Corps and is now an Air Force combat controller. Along with the physical intensity of the training, students must also face personal challenges. "The most difficult aspect of my training has been learning to trust and rely on the concept of teamwork," said Airman 1st Class Gabriel Rogers. "It is a challenge that (the Combat Control School) has helped me overcome." For one of the officer candidates, the school offered a personal insight to the role of enlisted controllers in the special operations environment. "Leading our enlisted troops in a team environment is demanding," said 1st Lt. Mason Dula, a new combat controller. "In special tactics, our airmen operate -- often independently -- in austere environments; liaising with senior officers as the primary voice for airpower on the forward battlefield. They're smart, motivated and tough. Keeping up with them is a challenge." Once trainees graduate they head to Hurlburt Field to begin AST. For the next 12 months, they will train to earn a 5-skill level, and their mission-readiness certification. The training here focuses on skills and mentorship coaching in special operations. "I'm excited about training at Hurlburt Field," Dula said. "It's an unparalleled opportunity for training, and exactly what the special tactics community needs -- a program to develop mission-ready airmen, delivering a competent warrior to a unit, and hopefully decreasing on-station training burdens." Some key benefits of the new training pipeline and AST are the distinction between basic and advanced qualifications and the increased focus on mentoring and coaching the trainees, said Senior Master Sgt. Harvey Perriott, 720th Special Tactics Group chief of training. "These elements have proven to be extremely successful for our SOF counterparts and will improve critical leadership skills for every trainee," he said. Senior Airman Robert O'Connor and Airman 1st Class Gabriel Rogers assemble an M-4 carbine during a combat controller physical training activity. They've survived some of the most intense training to earn the right to wear the beret. But before the pararescuemen and combat controllers can join a special tactics team, they have one more course to complete. The 720th Special Tactics Group's Special Tactics Initial Familiarization program -- known as IFAM -- provides pararescuemen and combat controllers exposure to the unique aspects of Special Tactics. Though many special tactics units have their own in-house familiarization program, the group's IFAM course is held at the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron, here. "The course is designed to familiarize PJs and controllers with the special tactics core missions," said Ron Childress, IFAM course director. "We're not here to decide if they have what it takes to be a PJ or controller. They've already proven that by graduating the tech schools." "Now that they have their beret, we want to take them as close to the edge as we can get in the special tactics arena," said Childress, who is also a retired combat controller. "The object is to teach them those lessons here, so they're better prepared to take on real-world missions when they get to their special ops units." Though most of the students come to IFAM after graduating the combat control or pararescue schools, some may have been out of the special operations community for awhile serving in Air Combat Command or Air Education and Training Command units. For these students, IFAM serves as a refresher course. The combat control school is held at Pope Air Force Base, N.C. The PJ School is at Kirtland AFB, N.M. "We get NCOs through the course who have been instructors at the indoc (indoctrination) schools or have never been assigned to AFSOC. Whether the student is a three-, five- or seven-level, IFAM provides them the training essential to the Special Tactics world," said Childress. Currently there are two PJs and two controllers serving as IFAM instructors, and with more than 22 years experience as a combat control instructor and being assigned to conventional and special tactics squadrons, Childress brings continuity and real-world experience to the program. During the 30-day course, students are introduced to special tactics techniques such as airfield seizure operations, combat search and rescue, and call-for-fire missions for fixed and rotary wing aircraft. Classroom time provides students instruction on topics such as portable radio familiarization, navigational aids and beacons, aircraft capability, utilization and employment of the global positioning system within Special Operations, and mission planning, air traffic control procedures and individual team member responsibilities during forward arming and refueling point operations. Practical instruction covers everything from fast roping and zodiac maintenance, to drop zone/helicopter landing zone survey and multi-lift static line jump procedures. "There's a lot of attention on providing students practical, hands-on training," said Childress. "They'll use all they've learned at the end of the course during a field training exercise. They have to plan and prepare for the exercise, which is held for two nights and culminates with an airfield seizure operation." After they've completed the course students are ready to take on an active role on their special tactics team, he said. Airman 1st Class Jose Nevarez, a combat controller currently attending IFAM Class 00-02, said the course's progressive learning pace is a training benefit. "During pipeline training you're learning on the go," said Nevarez, who will be assigned to the Blue Team at the 23rd STS. "During IFAM I have a chance to ask questions and reinforce what I'm learning. It's helping phase me into my team." Class 00-02 graduates April 5. Senior Airman Erin Bowser said the course is giving him a better understanding of what to expect when he joins his team at McChord AFB, Wash. "It's a great course and really shows you how a special tactics team operates," said Bowser, a combat controller who will be assigned to the 22nd Special Tactics Squadron at McChord. "I'm anxious to learn all they have to teach me so I can be more compatible with my team. IFAM is pulling all the information together so I can hit the ground running." Preparing students for the special tactics team environment is the biggest benefit of the program for another IFAM student. "IFAM offers a more structured environment than you'll get in team training," said Staff Sgt. Jason Kemp, who cross-trained into the combat control career field. "I can stop the instructors and ask a million questions. I'll learn more and be an asset to my team, not a liability." After completing IFAM, Kemp will be on the Silver Team at the 23rd STS. In a unit that's 99.9 percent prepared, getting a new member to fold into the team is a mission benefit, said the superintendent of the 23rd STS Silver Team. "In the past the team took a 'green' airman and taught him how to apply all those skills he spent the last year-plus learning," said Master Sgt. Gary Maddock. "Though training is our full-time job, team training is more proficiency focused. We train together in events, exercises and scenarios that challenge us to perform our wartime missions. Practicing them, not learning them. Training a new airman how we do those things actually takes away from that practice. This is where IFAM earns its money." The end result of IFAM is to provide combat-ready Special Operations pararescuemen and combat controllers for AFSOC units, said Childress. "The benefits of IFAM show with each real-world mission our special tactics teams take part in," he said. "A great example is the special tactics teams that participated in the rescue missions during Operation Allied Force -- they learned what they did in IFAM. IFAM sharpens the sword for the special tactics commanders, and gives them a better weapon to use in executing the mission." Since the program began in 1997, there have been 16 IFAMs, graduating 192 students into the AFSOC special tactics world.
Combat control students Staff Sgt. David Overton (left) and Airman 1st Class Ryan Buenaflor, both from Pope Air Force Base, N.C., listen to their operational briefing before heading out to set up a landing strip at the Sicily Drop Zone here. Combat controllers are trained to infiltrate forward areas by whatever means necessary -- including static-line or free-fall parachuting, scuba diving or over land -- and control air traffic in and out of the area until more permanent facilities can be set up.
Combat control students Tech. Sgt. Jarrett Heavenston and Senior Airman Dru Wasson set up the communications they will need to control air traffic at the Sicily Drop Zone here. Combat controllers are trained to infiltrate forward areas by whatever means necessary -- including static-line or free-fall parachuting, scuba diving or over land -- and control air traffic in and out of the area until more permanent facilities can be set up.
Master Sgt. Ronny Moss, an instructor at the Combat Control School at Pope Air Force Base, N.C., oversees a student who is conducting airfield operations during an exercise at the Sicily Drop Zone here. Combat controllers are trained to infiltrate forward areas by whatever means necessary -- including static-line or free-fall parachuting, scuba diving or over land -- and control air traffic in and out of the area until more permanent facilities can be set up.
A Combat Control School instructor from Pope Air Force Base, N.C., approaches the ground after parachuting from 12,500 feet into the Sicily Drop Zone here. Combat controllers are trained to infiltrate forward areas by whatever means necessary -- including static-line or free-fall parachuting, scuba diving or over land -- and control air traffic in and out of the area until more permanent facilities can be set up.
New Combat Controllers First To Experience Entire Pipeline
Air Force Special Operations Command's newest combat controllers graduated from Combat Control School at Pope Air Force Base, N.C., on Sept. 25, earning the right to wear the scarlet beret.
Class 01-03 is the first to complete the new training pipeline for combat controllers, which now continues after students graduate from the school and enter a 12-month Special Tactics Advanced Skills Training program here.
The school provides training to enlisted and officer candidates, and there are four classes a year with an average of 11 trainees per course.
"We started the course with 13 CCT candidates and graduated 10," said Senior Master Sgt. Bob Rankin, CCS commandant. "Some of the candidates were recycled due to physical injuries, while some didn't make it because they didn't meet our stringent requirements. No matter how we organize the pipeline and training, our ultimate responsibility is to ensure those graduating this course know what it takes to meet the demands of being a combat controller."
The number of combat control candidates is expected to increase as recruiting efforts improve, Rankin said. In fact, he said the January 2002 class is currently projecting 21 students.
Training at the school is divided up into blocks of instruction that include tactics, communication, land navigation, assault zone and air traffic control labs, demolitions, fire support, and a comprehensive field training exercise.
"There are times when you loose track of what day it is just because you are so focused and busy during the week," said Senior Airman Patrick Crow, who served with the Marine Corps and is now an Air Force combat controller.
Along with the physical intensity of the training, students must also face personal challenges.
"The most difficult aspect of my training has been learning to trust and rely on the concept of teamwork," said Airman 1st Class Gabriel Rogers. "It is a challenge that (the Combat Control School) has helped me overcome."
For one of the officer candidates, the school offered a personal insight to the role of enlisted controllers in the special operations environment.
"Leading our enlisted troops in a team environment is demanding," said 1st Lt. Mason Dula, a new combat controller. "In special tactics, our airmen operate -- often independently -- in austere environments; liaising with senior officers as the primary voice for airpower on the forward battlefield. They're smart, motivated and tough. Keeping up with them is a challenge."
Once trainees graduate they head to Hurlburt Field to begin AST. For the next 12 months, they will train to earn a 5-skill level, and their mission-readiness certification. The training here focuses on skills and mentorship coaching in special operations.
"I'm excited about training at Hurlburt Field," Dula said. "It's an unparalleled opportunity for training, and exactly what the special tactics community needs -- a program to develop mission-ready airmen, delivering a competent warrior to a unit, and hopefully decreasing on-station training burdens."
Some key benefits of the new training pipeline and AST are the distinction between basic and advanced qualifications and the increased focus on mentoring and coaching the trainees, said Senior Master Sgt. Harvey Perriott, 720th Special Tactics Group chief of training.
"These elements have proven to be extremely successful for our SOF counterparts and will improve critical leadership skills for every trainee," he said.
Senior Airman Robert O'Connor and Airman 1st Class Gabriel Rogers assemble an M-4 carbine during a combat controller physical training activity.
They've survived some of the most intense training to earn the right to wear the beret. But before the pararescuemen and combat controllers can join a special tactics team, they have one more course to complete.
The 720th Special Tactics Group's Special Tactics Initial Familiarization program -- known as IFAM -- provides pararescuemen and combat controllers exposure to the unique aspects of Special Tactics.
Though many special tactics units have their own in-house familiarization program, the group's IFAM course is held at the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron, here.
"The course is designed to familiarize PJs and controllers with the special tactics core missions," said Ron Childress, IFAM course director. "We're not here to decide if they have what it takes to be a PJ or controller. They've already proven that by graduating the tech schools."
"Now that they have their beret, we want to take them as close to the edge as we can get in the special tactics arena," said Childress, who is also a retired combat controller. "The object is to teach them those lessons here, so they're better prepared to take on real-world missions when they get to their special ops units."
Though most of the students come to IFAM after graduating the combat control or pararescue schools, some may have been out of the special operations community for awhile serving in Air Combat Command or Air Education and Training Command units. For these students, IFAM serves as a refresher course. The combat control school is held at Pope Air Force Base, N.C. The PJ School is at Kirtland AFB, N.M.
"We get NCOs through the course who have been instructors at the indoc (indoctrination) schools or have never been assigned to AFSOC. Whether the student is a three-, five- or seven-level, IFAM provides them the training essential to the Special Tactics world," said Childress.
Currently there are two PJs and two controllers serving as IFAM instructors, and with more than 22 years experience as a combat control instructor and being assigned to conventional and special tactics squadrons, Childress brings continuity and real-world experience to the program. During the 30-day course, students are introduced to special tactics techniques such as airfield seizure operations, combat search and rescue, and call-for-fire missions for fixed and rotary wing aircraft.
Classroom time provides students instruction on topics such as portable radio familiarization, navigational aids and beacons, aircraft capability, utilization and employment of the global positioning system within Special Operations, and mission planning, air traffic control procedures and individual team member responsibilities during forward arming and refueling point operations.
Practical instruction covers everything from fast roping and zodiac maintenance, to drop zone/helicopter landing zone survey and multi-lift static line jump procedures.
"There's a lot of attention on providing students practical, hands-on training," said Childress. "They'll use all they've learned at the end of the course during a field training exercise. They have to plan and prepare for the exercise, which is held for two nights and culminates with an airfield seizure operation."
After they've completed the course students are ready to take on an active role on their special tactics team, he said.
Airman 1st Class Jose Nevarez, a combat controller currently attending IFAM Class 00-02, said the course's progressive learning pace is a training benefit.
"During pipeline training you're learning on the go," said Nevarez, who will be assigned to the Blue Team at the 23rd STS. "During IFAM I have a chance to ask questions and reinforce what I'm learning. It's helping phase me into my team." Class 00-02 graduates April 5.
Senior Airman Erin Bowser said the course is giving him a better understanding of what to expect when he joins his team at McChord AFB, Wash.
"It's a great course and really shows you how a special tactics team operates," said Bowser, a combat controller who will be assigned to the 22nd Special Tactics Squadron at McChord. "I'm anxious to learn all they have to teach me so I can be more compatible with my team. IFAM is pulling all the information together so I can hit the ground running."
Preparing students for the special tactics team environment is the biggest benefit of the program for another IFAM student.
"IFAM offers a more structured environment than you'll get in team training," said Staff Sgt. Jason Kemp, who cross-trained into the combat control career field. "I can stop the instructors and ask a million questions. I'll learn more and be an asset to my team, not a liability." After completing IFAM, Kemp will be on the Silver Team at the 23rd STS.
In a unit that's 99.9 percent prepared, getting a new member to fold into the team is a mission benefit, said the superintendent of the 23rd STS Silver Team.
"In the past the team took a 'green' airman and taught him how to apply all those skills he spent the last year-plus learning," said Master Sgt. Gary Maddock. "Though training is our full-time job, team training is more proficiency focused. We train together in events, exercises and scenarios that challenge us to perform our wartime missions. Practicing them, not learning them. Training a new airman how we do those things actually takes away from that practice. This is where IFAM earns its money."
The end result of IFAM is to provide combat-ready Special Operations pararescuemen and combat controllers for AFSOC units, said Childress.
"The benefits of IFAM show with each real-world mission our special tactics teams take part in," he said. "A great example is the special tactics teams that participated in the rescue missions during Operation Allied Force -- they learned what they did in IFAM. IFAM sharpens the sword for the special tactics commanders, and gives them a better weapon to use in executing the mission."
Since the program began in 1997, there have been 16 IFAMs, graduating 192 students into the AFSOC special tactics world.