Members of the 32nd FTS deploy to Alpena for combat readiness training

  • Published
  • By Capt. Tim Rolling
  • 32nd Flying Training Squadron executive officer
VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  The 32nd Flying Training Squadron deployed 17 airplanes and 42 aircrew, maintenance, and support folks, Sept. 19-22, to the Combat Readiness Training Center in Alpena, Mich. 

The training commenced at 6 p.m., Sept. 18, with all aircrew entering simulated Bravo Alert here. All involved pilots and maintenance Airmen reported at 6:45 a.m., Sept. 19, for the mission briefing. Capt. Jeff Ulmer, the officer in charge, briefed weather, special instructions, air tasking order and simulated mission intelligence and threats. 

Once everyone was briefed and given their deployment packages, operations began. Crews stepped to jets and took off every six minutes. Lt. Col. Dave Morrissey, the 32nd FTS commander, served as the mission commander, leading the way over the mighty Mississippi, the Sears Tower, Lake Michigan and finally, arriving at Alpena CRTC. 

The deployment's fierce competition included an airdrop, air-refueling and precision landings. Capt. Sam McCurry, a first assignment instructor pilot, and Capt. Kevin Seay, won the "rodeo" flying competition. 

Captain Seay is a prior C-130 tactics officer with the 50th Airlift Squadron at Little Rock AFB, Ark. He has over 900 flying hours in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Captain McCurry was hand-selected as a FAIP and is now a check pilot in the 32nd FTS. 

"I'm pretty happy we won. My crew came in last the year before," said Captain McCurry. "We had a great time flying, and I even got to catch a few fish and discuss combat tactics with some deployed medical folks." 

First Lt. Jim Scyocurka handled the squadron morale events and logistics. "It was a great time for us to get to know each other away from the squadron," he said."It definitely increased unit morale and cohesion. I got to know some people on a different level." 

The morale events centered on a small-unit tactics laser tag challenge in a mock insurgent town on the training complex. The younger FAIPs edged their more experienced counterparts in the competition. 

"What a great time!" said Lt. Col. Lane Benefield, the 32nd FTS director of operations. "It absolutely gives you a great amount of respect for what our Army and Marine brethren face every day. I think the older IPs could have won, we just needed some more Motrin," Colonel Benefield said. 

The squadron also participated in fishing, canoeing, kayaking, volleyball, and basketball. First Lt. Tony Cannone, an IP, said, "I laughed, I cried, it reminded me of the circus -- only there were no clowns and it was performed with great precision." 

Colonel Morrissey said the reason the 32nd FTS participates in these deployments is to "expose our young aviators to simulated deployed combat ops and let our senior IPs, who have been there and done that, lead them through a compressed and fairly aggressive air tasking order. 

"Most of my major weapon system IPs have over 500 combat hours flying inter and intra theater airlift, tanker support, and reconnaissance missions," said Colonel Morrissey. "They have a huge wealth of experience. I have little doubt that providing them the environment to mentor our first assignment IPs pays huge dividends down the road. 

"They will be better instructors on the line, and better able to relay to the students why the core skills that we teach them at the 32nd FTS are so important to master, as they get ready to strap on the Air Force's most complex missions in follow-on training," Colonel Morrissey said. 

"It was a tremendous amount of work, but it was well worth it," said Capt. Jeff Ulmer, who was ultimately responsible for orchestrating this huge effort. "The training was great and we all came together to make the mission happen, just like we do every day. We even got to have a little bit of fun along the way," the captain said. "That equals mission success!"