JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON -- Over the May UTA, the 477th Force Support Squadron will spend four days participating in a readiness exercise with the 176th Mission Support Group at Camp Mad Bull located on the north side of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. During this exercise, the FSS will integrate with their respective Guard counterparts to train and interact in an austere setting.
“We’ve participated in similar exercises like this in the past, just on a smaller scale and only with our Services team,” said Lt. Col. Jennifer Page, 477 FSS Commander. “The exercise was a big success last time despite our Airmen being soaked with rain. The camaraderie and teamwork with our Guard counterparts was a great boost for morale.”
This exercise will provide the 477th with the opportunity to train with resources they don’t normally have access to in an unfamiliar environment. The goal is to accomplish the majority of the squadron’s home-station readiness training for the year.
Over the weekend, FSS personnel will practice building shelters, setting up and operating a Single Pallet Expeditionary Kitchen, and training in PERSCO operations and human remains search and recovery. Other members of the FSS will train and practice setting up and operating deployed cyber networks while Logistics will receive specialized vehicle training and cargo processing practice.
Within the FSS, the personnel and services Airmen have specific requirements they need to be trained on in order to deploy. For the personnel Airmen that’s Personnel Support for Contingency Operations training. Their primary mission is force accountability in support of the combatant commander’s operations. They not only track and account for every single person in the AOR, but they also have to manage the force and be able to source replacement personnel. The services Airmen must be trained in the lodging, morale and welfare, and feeding of all forces at the deployed location. They also have the task of search and recovery of human remains as well as other mortuary functions. These are all core tasks FSS Airmen would be responsible for when they deploy downrange.
“When the FSS deploys we usually go as individual agile combat support packages, consisting of one to eight people in a UTC,” said Page. “We then integrate into an expeditionary unit with other active duty, Guard, and Reserve personnel. The Mad Bull exercise lets us practice that total force team concept with the 176th Air National Guard.”
In this exercise, there’s a little bit of something for everyone. The FSS will also use the weekend to catch up on overdue readiness training and conduct AEF Online and mobility folder reviews.
“We’re normally the ones reviewing everyone else’s mobility records, this will give us a chance to review our own,” said Page. “Mad Bull 2017 is guaranteed to provide the 477 FSS with the readiness training that we need and the chance to develop great camaraderie with our Guard brethren.”