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The 435th Construction and Training Squadron hosted 150 Airmen from 22 different units from across the continental U.S., Pacific Air Forces and U.S. Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa for exercise Silver Flag at Ramstein Air Base, March 19-21.
Silver Flag, held six times a year, brought multiple different training scenarios, such as airfield damage repair, response to conventional and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats as well as response to simulated downed aircraft. These scenarios reinforce Airmen’s ability to adapt under pressure and emphasizes the importance of the teamwork and communication needed to accomplish wartime tasks.
“Accomplishing wartime task standards was the primary mission of the exercise, specifically for firefighters. The four tasks were tactical casualty combat care, night vision goggle training, military grid reference system training and airport rescue firefighting,” said U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Dominick Kelly, 435th CTS fire and rescue training instructor. “The portion of the exercise teaches Airmen to think on their feet in uncertain circumstances, having the Airman prioritize between speed and accuracy depending on their assessment of the patients and the severity of the patient’s injuries.”
During the exercise Ramstein served as the forward operating base for three other contingency support locations, building on the concept of Agile Combat Employment and mission command. Airmen established a fully functioning living support area with utility support systems, allowing the Airmen to simulate a deployed environment providing crucial repetitions on mission essential tasks.
“USAFE Silver Flag provides a premier force support, engineering and logistics readiness contingency training site,” said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Valerie Kalkwarf, 435th CTS emergency services contingency training section chief. “Our 51 cadre directly support national defense strategy objectives by delivering high caliber, realistic and specialized warfighter training, enhancing Airmen’s readiness and resilience.”
Throughout the exercise 357 wartime task standards were completed in a simulated conflict-contested environment testing critical thinking, adaptability in response to concurrent threats and successful response to taskings from higher headquarters.
“Silver Flag provides the rigorous training necessary to develop crucial tactics and training that cultivates skills needed for Airmen to succeed in real-world scenarios, together as one team,” said Kalkwarf. “In today’s complex global landscape, the ability for our Airmen to operate in contested environments is paramount to mission success.”
Exercises like Silver Flag enable Airmen from diverse units, commands and specialties to come together and operate as a cohesive force. The ability to seamlessly integrate equipment, procedures and communication across units ensures that no matter where conflict arises, U.S. forces can respond quickly and effectively, strengthening partnerships and reinforcing readiness.
