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The 435th Air Ground Operations Wing hosted three members of the Kosovo Security Force for a firefighting fundamentals course conducted April 7 to 11 on Ramstein.
Airmen from the 435th Contin-gency Response Group’s Air Adviser Branch coordinated the event while the course was run by instructors from the 435th Construction and Training Squadron’s U.S. Air Forces in Europe Fire Academy.
Tech. Sgt. James Hickman, 435th CTS fire and rescue contingency training NCOIC, commended the experience the KSF soldiers brought to the course.
“I was impressed with the level of technical rescue training they already had,” he said. “We took advantage of the opportunity to exchange techniques, and I feel that we directly impacted their abilities to enhance their growing rescue response programs and capabilities.”
The event included instruction for incident management control, crash rescue tactics and strategies, rope rescue and patient packaging techniques, and confined space familiarization. The KSF soldiers also toured KMC Fire Station 1, aircraft and structural fire simulators and a C-130J Super Hercules. All elements of the course were designed to familiarize KSF first responders with procedures for in-flight or ground emergencies.
The training expanded on the skill sets of the KSF soldiers who attended the course, as they are all part of the KSF Search and Rescue Company.
Pvt. Kushtrim Hyseni, KSF search and rescue technician, said he looked forward to putting the skills to use.
“The firefighting training materials we’ve received during the course have been very good, especially the hands on portions,” Hyseni said. “It was beneficial to take what we have learned here and apply it to the KSF mission.”
The KSF members wish to increase their firefighting capacity as they transition from an emergency response force into a NATO compliant army by 2019. This BPC event goes toward the United States and Kosovo’s mutual goals to achieve full operating capability and enhance interoperability with NATO Allies.
