'ATSO rodeo' prepares Airmen for exercises, deployments

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Alyssa C. Wallace
  • 366th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho --  More than 400 Gunfighters participated in an "Ability to Survive and Operate Rodeo" Dec. 13 in preparation for upcoming deployments and a basewide exercise in early 2011.

Participants attended one of five two-hour long classes where they learned proper chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear active defense, protection, response, contamination avoidance, and control and mission continuation.

According to Maj. Erik Jorgensen, 366th Fighter Wing assessments chief, the event was held in hopes of increasing critical real-world and Phase II ATSO skills through four combined academic and practical stations at the hangar.

"Everything was broken down into pre-, intra- and post-attack activities -- from signals, what actions to take, how to take cover to neutralizing threats and how to recover from an attack safely and ensure they and their wingmen are taken care of through self-aid buddy care," Major Jorgensen said. "We tailored the audience towards first-term Airmen who haven't been exposed to an operational readiness exercise or deployment."

Staff Sgt. Anna Olson, 366th Civil Engineer Squadron emergency manager, and noncommissioned officer in charge of the logistics section, feels the rodeo was a necessary course for all potential deployers.

"Practice makes perfect, especially with inspections coming up," she said. "The more you do it, the better. You can find little tricks to help you out, and you'll be able to identify any trouble areas you may have."

Sergeant Olson, who also served as an assets covering and split MOPP level instructor during the training, says being prepared can keep the Air Force from suffering a major loss.

"You may have a lack of things to cover equipment with or you may notice you have an outdated map," she said. "If you don't understand how to cover an asset correctly, you could possibly have the off-gassing of harmful agents blowing in your face. That could be fatal, especially if you don't have the right equipment on.

"We do this kind of stuff for a reason, especially with the way things are going," she continued. "You could be placed in these kinds of conditions at any time. This isn't something to take lightly. We do this training constantly to keep everyone's skills up to par so people understand the latest info coming out. Without this, if you are put into that kind of environment, you're not going to understand the important parts of it."

Major Jorgensen agrees.

"These skills are especially tailored through real-world scenarios and should pay off," he said. "I hope every Airman goes away from this training feeling their time was well used and that they've learned something -- whether it's seeing how equipment is used, a procedure on the radio, visual signals or a lecture - my first hope is that learning has taken place. Seeing and doing it will help retention as we continue to hit these skills over the next months as we prepare for deployments and OREs."