Last Week of Training

So, for the last week of my training we were all flown into Tyndall AFB in FL. They have a mock deployed environment where they taught us everything that we could be doing when we deploy.

We had to set up tents, water purification units, electricity, latrines, build berms, airfield maintanence, airfield lighting, mobile aircraft arresting systems, fire fighting exercises etc. I got to drive some heavy equipment and get a lot of hands on training. The last day (Friday) was the exercise where we did everything we learned during the week while "under attack" so we had to wear our chemical warfare gear (gas masks, suits, boots, etc.)

It was a lot of fun but, being the last week of my training, I was anxious to get home too.

Here's some pics:

This is the inside of our tent, not too bad. Yes, that is a mini pink Christmas tree that someone brought and yes, that is a cott that is zip-tied to top of the tent (not mine) as part of an ongoing prank. :)

Here's the "humvee" that we got to drive around.

The next few pics are some different trucks we got to drive around.

The front end loader. Very fun.

The bulldozer, also very fun. Both were pretty tricky.

This is called AM-2 matting, pretty heavy stuff. It is used to cover damaged airfields (and for basketball courts!)

This is Folded Fiberglass Matting (FFM). It is used to cover craters etc on runways.

Hard work building "expedient latrines". I gotta take a break! (This is NOT where we actually went to the bathroom) Normally there would be a shelter built around it so it would be more private.

Here's the urinal on the latrine, what you can't see (the timing was off) is the camp director (Lt Colonel) bending over behind me.

Fire truck that we got to spray water on a mock jet.

Suited up to go into the smoke house (see below) and rescue dummies. This is the gas mask we had to wear in case of a chemical attack. What you can't see is the suit, pants, and boots that is underneath the silver suit. That suit we have to wear if attacked. (VERY hot and uncomfortable.)

This is the smoke house where we had to crawl on our hands and knees in the pitch black holding one hand on the ankle of the person in front of you and using the other hand to reach out and feel the wall or feel for the dummies.

The Mobile Aircraft Arresting System (MAAS). This has a line that goes across the runway to help aircraft stop. The picture below shows how a plane would hook into that line.