Fly Away Security Team Airmen provide protection in Iraq's sky, ground

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Zachary Wilson
  • AFCENT Combat Camera Team
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq --  The U.S. Air Force's more than 25,000 security forces members can deploy to perform a wide variety of duties ranging from air base defense, installation law enforcement, convoy escorts, detainee guards, quick reaction force or police trainers.

For the select few security forces Airmen serving as Fly Away Security Team members at Joint Base Balad, they wouldn't trade their current assignments for anything else.

"I take a lot of pride in this job," said Staff Sgt. Jason Combs, a Youngstown, Ohio, native deployed from Holloman Air Force Base, N.M. "This is what I came into the Air Force to do."

FAST Airmen generally work in teams and are responsible for the security of the aircraft they fly on and any passengers being transported. Having this capability in a combat environment is critical to the mission of an expeditionary airlift squadron, such as the 777th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron based at Joint Base Balad that Sergeant Combs and the 332nd Security Forces Squadron's other FAST Airmen support on a daily basis.

Tasked with providing security for aircraft operating from unsecured airfields, these Airmen are the crew and passengers' immediate first and last line of defense.

"We're threat mitigation and delay force," Sgt. Combs said. "We pretty much want to hold off any threats until responding QRF teams can get to us."

On a recent mission flying to various air bases in Iraq, Sgt. Combs and his partner, Airman 1st Class Joshua Botto, a native of Charleston, S.C. who is also deployed from Holloman, were required to accompany a flight where they would be dropping off passengers at Qayyarah Airfield, known within Iraq as "Q-West," which is an unsecured airfield.

"The perimeter of the base ends at the flightline," Sgt. Combs said. "We are effectively 'outside-the-wire' when we get off the plane, so that is where we are needed most."

As the C-130 landed, Sgt. Combs and Airman Botto exited and took up positions as the passengers made their way to the safety of the base. While in position, the Airmen scanned for threats and kept a vigilant eye on their immediate surroundings.

Once a new set of passengers were loaded, the crew signaled it was time to go and the FAST Airmen fell back and returned to their seats as the Hercules prepared to take off for its next location.

According to Airman Botto, the brief periods of excitement followed by long hours in the back of the plane is all part of a day's work, but he is proud to do his part.

"We fly every other day, often putting in 14-15 hour days -- we call it a 'turn and burn,'" he said. "But we're taking troops off of roads with [improvised explosive devices] and it makes me feel good to know I'm a part of that."

For both Sgt. Combs and Airman Botto, who have both served more traditional deployments in places like Camp Bucca and JBB, Iraq, the chance to do something unique was exciting, especially for Sgt. Combs, who said he was serving his first Air Force deployment "after playing Army during my previous deployment experiences," he said jokingly.

"Normally, we are regular security forces members - [the FAST mission] was traditionally a mission done by the 'Ravens,'" Sgt. Combs said. Air Mobility Command's PHOENIX RAVEN program consists of teams of specially trained security forces Airmen dedicated to providing security for Air Mobility Command aircraft transiting high terrorist and criminal threat areas, according to the organization's fact sheet.

However, with roughly 200 certified Ravens serving in the Air Force, the requirements soon outpaced the available manning, Sgt. Combs said. Security forces Airmen identified to deploy as part of a FAST attend a two-week course at the Air Force Expeditionary Center at Ft. Dix, N.J., based upon many of the concepts Ravens go through for their own certification.

"We focused a lot on use of force within the aircraft without using firearms, which was a lot of hand-to-hand combat techniques," Sgt. Combs said. "The most interesting part was where I got hit in the face; I guess it's important to have it happen during a training scenario so you know how you would respond. Nobody wants to get hit in the face for the first time during a real situation.

"This has been really fun for me," he added with a smile.