RANS Airmen strive for self-sufficiency everywhere

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Benjamin Sutton
  • 366th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho --  The art of warfare and how it is waged has changed constantly throughout the course of history.

One squadron's mission is to employ those enemy tactics as training tools to better prepare Airmen and military personnel from across the branches of service.

"Our squadron provides world-class training threats in the Mountain Home Range Complex and around the world," said Master Sgt. Scott Groggett, 266th Range Squadron sagebrush threat director. "Our personnel provide a training environment for aircrews to hone their skills against simulated enemy assets and are capable of simulating a wide variety of them from multiple locations simultaneously."

By copying these enemy threats, Airmen provide a training environment unmatched throughout the country.

"Once we have all the information, we go out and simulate that specific type of warfare for the coalition forces that come here to train," said Senior Master Sgt. Allen Sapp, 266th RANS branch chief. "However, we constantly push to find other areas where we can assist the base as well.

"When we deploy a fighter squadron and maintenance unit, our guys are part of the planning and scheduling process," he continued. "In the winter when the heavy snows come, our guys volunteered to step up and assist in the snow removal of the flight line and housing areas as well."

As a tenant unit the squadron is self-sufficient and has their own maintenance, administration and communications sections.

"Relying on other agencies to solve our problems isn't how we do business here," said Sapp. "We will ask for help as needed but our team helps each other as much as possible to complete the mission which includes regular rotations to Guam, where Airmen operate and maintain the Joint Threat Emitters."

The JTEs travel wherever necessary to train military personnel from every service in any state and even a few from other countries.

"Our Airmen really get an opportunity to do some very unique things like go on convoys throughout the country and volunteer to be the opposing force for Special Forces missions on the range," said Sapp. "We have more than 130 vehicles and sometimes drive as much as 30,000 miles a month working those range missions."

Many of these extremely remote sites are more than three hours away causing RANS personnel to utilize robust generators to ensure mission success.

"There are more than 50 generators of all sizes and some of them are even mobile," said Tech. Sgt. Keith Hribek, 266th RANS generator maintenance technician. "They are the sole power supply and require some extremely complex maintenance to remain running at full strength while out at the remote sites."

Communication across the vast expanse of range is also a challenge the RANS members are quick to take on.

"Inside our communication center we have monitors across an entire wall with camera shots from all corners of our range," said Sapp. "This enables us to have communication across the range as well as shoot our radar signals in any direction necessary for training purposes.

"There's plenty of sun in the Idaho desert so a few of our Airmen basically recycled spare parts into a solar-powered battery charger," he continued. "This saves everyone money while providing us with a necessary function because these batteries power equipment at our numerous remote sites which in turn, saves us even more money because we don't have to use a generator."

Along with the cost-saving measures RANS personnel have introduced, many Airmen are avid volunteers and in some cases heroes, in the local towns.

"During the long drives across southern Idaho, our Airmen have encountered and assisted with a variety of motorist issues and vehicle accidents," said Groggett. "They provide life-saving first aid and quickly contact emergency response crews in areas that have no cell phone coverage. RANS personnel consistently volunteer to be members of community organizations such as Operation Warmheart, the MHAFB Chiefs group and many other base programs.

"Since the squadron is part of the Idaho Air National Guard, its personnel are members of the local community," he continued. "We are proud to help ensure that aircrews are ready to protect Americans and American interests worldwide."

(Editor's note: This is part two of a three-part series highlighting the 266th RANS)