Patriot Sands pairs reserve Airmen with federal and state agencies

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Elizabeth Morris
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
HOMESTEAD AIR RESERVE BASE, Fla. --  Team Dover Airmen teamed with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Federal Emergency Management Agency and a Florida Advanced Surgical Transport Team for a contingency exercise Feb. 20-22, 2014, at Homestead Air Reserve Base, Fla., MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., and Patrick AFB, Fla.

Operation Patriot Sands, which is an annual exercise, tests the FBI, FEMA and FAST's ability to deploy using military airlift and allows Airmen to train and practice their ability to assert command, control and communication in bare-base conditions.

The 512th Airlift Wing Control Flight and the 46th Aerial Port Squadron from Dover AFB staged out of Homestead and worked with Airmen from Westover AFR, Mass., Charleston AFB, S.C., Joint Base San Antonio, Texas and March ARB, Calif. during the training exercise. The additional Airmen and the federal agencies practiced loading and transporting cargo during the exercise.

Tech. Sgt. Kurtis Ernst, 46th Aerial Port Squadron special handling craftsman, and other aerial port members assisted loadmasters in loading and securing trucks and equipment driven onto the aircraft by FEMA, FAST and FBI personnel. Ernst said his team played an integral role in the exercise.

"What we do is very important to this mission because nothing could get anywhere without us," said Ernst. "We get everything on the plane safely, so it can get to the next location."

Scott Kerns, FBI crisis management squad, said this type of training is crucial in helping the FBI and other agencies to be prepared in case of a crisis.

"The FBI has to be ready to respond around the world to requests for assistance from other countries in cases of terrorism or other significant crimes against Americans or American interests." said Kerns. "This exercise helps to train the Rapid Deployment Team members from the New York, Washington and Miami offices in load planning and preparing equipment for deployment."

Maj. Michael Mundy, 512th ALCF director of operations, said working with the federal agencies was mutually beneficial.

"When we go out in the field, a lot of the time we will be working with other governments and agencies that don't know our ways and don't do things the way we do it," said Mundy. "So, by working with them, it gives us that extra training."

Kerns said he was impressed with the Airmen and enjoyed working with them.

"The New York team is grateful for the opportunity to train next to such a highly motivated group of professionals," said Kerns. "All our personnel were impressed with the attention to detail the Air Force brought to every facet of this operation. New York looks forward to working with the Air Force in the future."