Not your father’s Air Force deployment training

  • Published
  • By 2d Lt. Jason Smith
  • PRT Panjshir Public Affairs
CAMP ATTERBURY, Ind. --  The traditional 90- or 180-day temporary duty assignment may seem a world away for Airmen attending today's Provincial Reconstruction Team pre-deployment training at Camp Atterbury, Ind.

Many PRT Panjshir Airmen have been in the Air Force for more than 10 years and can see a clear difference between this training and the deployment training, if any, Airmen received prior to Sept. 11, 2001.

Some of the differences may seem obvious to outsiders. The trusted Humvees look different, M-16s have been replaced with M-4s, and even an Airman's uniform is new. The most dramatic difference, according to some of the tenured Airmen of PRT Panjshir, is the training.

"We've had to learn to adapt to our sister services' environment." said Tech. Sgt. Jeremy Louk, a 14-year Air Force veteran deployed from Barksdale Air Force Base, La. "We've modified our normal routines and thought processes to meet the training requirements."

The Camp Atterbury training lasts more than three months for most PRT members and much longer for many, depending on specific jobs. Airmen in these special Joint Expeditionary Taskings can expect training seven-days-a-week with days lasting for 15 to 16 hours.

Some of the training events include counterinsurgency operations, stress weapons firing, improvised explosive device reaction training, combat lifesavers course, language training and horseback training.

"It's good to get horse riding training that we'll need downrange," said Tech. Sgt. Chad James, deployed from Shaw Air Force Base, S.C. "The trainers were really knowledgeable, and I had a great time."

The PRT facilities at Camp Atterbury are much different than the five-star hotel accommodations other branches often joke about the Air Force procuring. The officer and enlisted males of PRT Panjshir share an open-bay barracks with bunk beds, metal wall lockers and wooden foot lockers, just like the images of basic training in movies like "Full Metal Jacket."

"It's been a good experience to work with the Army in a deployed environment," said James. "We've had a lot of specialized combat PRT training tailored to our counterinsurgency mission."

The long training is worth the wait, according to many members of the team. Louk said it will all pay off once he arrives in the province.

"I'm excited to get to the Panjshir Province," said Louk. "I love being deployed, and this unique mission allows me to have direct interaction with the people I'm hoping to help.
"Adults are hard to change," Louk continued. "But kids you can make an impression on. I want one of the kids I make an impression on now to tell his grandkids about the G.I .who brought electricity or fresh water to the area.

Following the training, PRT Panjshir will head directly to their deployed location, Forward Operating Base Lion.