Base defenders protect Osan AB from intruders during exercise

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Stefanie Torres
  • 51st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  Security forces personnel at Osan Air Base are charged with protecting the Airmen and base assets from harm, and during a simulated base attack Jan. 31, that's exactly what they did.

In a scenario brought on by security forces evaluators, these Airmen worked together to fight off intruders who were trying to come on base with hostile force.

"Our number one objective as defenders is to defend the base, said Tech. Sgt. Greg Harris, 51st Security Forces Squadron evaluation team chief. We want to make sure the Airmen are getting the training so they can understand what it takes to defend Osan Air Base. It's also our commander's objective to make sure that we give them good scenarios and exercise training to understand the vulnerabilities of the base, and how to defend those vulnerabilities."

The Airmen hit with the scenario were patrolling another area of the base but responded quickly when the time came.

"We got a notification that we were being attacked from outside of the wire and we came over here and took care of business tactically and saved the day," said Senior Airman Nicol Hadnot, 51st Security Forces Squadron patrolman.

"Five opposing forces came from outside the wire intending to penetrate the base," said Senior Airman Floyd Dewiit, also a 51st SFS patrolman. "We responded, stopped them outside the wire before they made access to the installation."

Although these scenarios seem to be highly stressful to handle for the average person, the practice the Airmen receive on a normal basis helps them handle the situation.

"We're actually getting a lot of practice with it so it will make us more comfortable, Hadnot said. "If it does happen, then we are ready. It's muscle memory. We already know what to do to take care of business."

Participating in the scenarios can also be entertaining, explained Harris.

"We're just having a good time out here making sure that we're getting the training we need. We're taking back some good lessons learned so that we can continue to improve our forces."