Shoot, Move, Communicate

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Shawn Rhodes
  • 927th Air Refueling Wing
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  "The first thing you do in a firefight is find cover," said Tech. Sgt. Walter Dworak, as the acrid smoke of gunpowder surrounded him on the firing range here July 15, 2012.

Dworak is a veteran of three combat tours - two in Iraq, one in Afghanistan - and knows what it takes to survive a shootout. For reservists like Dworak and other members of the 927th Security Forces Squadron, the possibility of finding themselves in a firefight is a real one, and one they regularly train for. More than 20 members of the 927th SFS participated in the Shoot, Move, Communicate course this weekend. The purpose of the training echoes Dworak's experiences: If you want to survive combat, you have to be able to shoot and move as a team.

"This isn't the 'chair force'," said Senior Airman Joseph Hoffman, a combat arms instructor with the 927th SFS and coordinator of the course. "Our Airmen's jobs are not sitting in front of computer-based training. They may have to be in combat together, and they need to know how to survive it."

Survival, for the Airman and his fire team, is what this course is about, Hoffman explained.

"Everyone in this course learns how to engage multiple threats while focusing on tactics and communication," Hoffman said. "They learn to be proficient with using cover, movement while firing, and safe weapons handling."

Because the students were required to cross behind each other as they maneuvered toward enemy targets, the very real threat of injury was present. To ensure any mistakes would not be fatal, students used FX DyMark rounds in both their M-4 Carbines and Berretta M-9 pistols. The rounds mark targets instead of penetrating them.

"On this type of course, everyone watches their fellow students so we can go over scenarios," Hoffman said. "If we were using live rounds, mistakes here could be fatal."

Because the reservists only had a day and a half to complete the 4-day course, Hoffman and the other instructors had to pack a lot in. After a half-day of classroom instruction, the security forces members were on the range early the next day so they could all run through the course of fire before evening. Unlike their annual weapons qualification, this course would have them on their feet most of the day.

"In a firefight, you're never stationary," said Tech. Sgt. Josh Rapoza, a fire team leader with the 927th SFS and veteran of combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. "To be able to shoot and move gives us an opportunity to multi-task, which you have to do on a daily basis in combat."

Making life-and-death decisions is not something most people have to do for a living, but students embraced the simulations because it required them to quickly make decisions.

"Our Airmen have to think more than ever with this training," Hoffman said. "Their attention to detail has to be outstanding. They're involved with this at every level, mentally and physically."

When each of the students had expended more than 250 rounds of ammunition while maneuvering around each other to find cover and engage targets, they had an opportunity to reflect on how the training would help them in the future.

"The Air Force is realizing we are fighting on the ground, and they are preparing us for that," Dworak said. "When it hits the fan, this training comes back to you."

At the end of the long day of fire-and-maneuver training, the reservists returned home to their families and communities, secure in the knowledge that they could operate together as a team and keep each other alive while bringing accurate fire to their enemy.

"It's great to see the looks on students' faces," Hoffman said. "How many people can say they were able to do this in their job today?"