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| Airmen of the 820th Base Defense Group jump out of a U.S. Air Force HC-130P/N King cargo aircraft at Moody Air Force Base, Ga., March 21, 2012. There were a total of 30 Airmen who participated in the static line jump. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Douglas Ellis) |
Ok. Color me impressed.
First I didn't know that the USAF had established a truly expeditionary Security Force that is able to sortie out, jump in and defend an air strip or base.
The concept itself impresses me. The curious thing is that they don't advertise the capability.
These jokers have been around since '97!
Amazing. Between this unit and the Red Horse guys the USAF is doing some things that they should be beating their chests and pounding on tables about. Check out this passage from Wikipedia....
The 820th is different from other Security Forces Groups in that it is not on a rotational schedule also known as Air Expeditionary Force (AEF). The concept of the 820th BDG is to have a high operations tempo and be ready to deploy to any location at a moment's notice for extended periods of time. Falling under the 820th is the combat operations squadron. Medics, engineers, and communication specialists all fall under the 820th COS.The highlighted portion indicates that this unit is as close as is possible (within the USAF's force structure) to a version of a combined arms task force. Of course you add in the fact that these guys are going to be protecting and theoretically receiving support from high performance jet aircraft and you're cooking with gas.
There are many different Army and non-Army schools 820th airmen may attend, to include: Airborne, Pathfinder, Special Reaction Team, the Close Precision Engagement Course (CPEC), Ranger, Air Assault, Raven, Raven B UAV, Army Sniper, and EMT. Since its activation in 1997, the 820 BDG has deployed in support of Operations Desert Safeside, Southern Watch, Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, and Bright Star. It has deployed to locations such as Iraq, Djibouti, Cairo, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Hurricane Katrina (New Orleans), Haiti, and Pakistan.
Next question is this.
Are they based at Camp Lemonnier in Africa? And if not then where are they?
The USAF CRGS also have Secuirty forces that are at this level. Particularly the two overseas CRGs both have Airborne and Air Assault Security forces. Members of the 435th Security forces actually performed a combat airborne operation in Iraq towards the beging of the war.
ReplyDeleteMoody AFB, Valdosta GA. Its a C-17 base which means they just hop on the baddest cargo jet on the planet and go.
ReplyDelete