Calm amongst storm: Bunkers provide protection, respite from simulated combat

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Kent Kagarise
  • 442nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. --  The 442nd Fighter Wing's operational readiness exercise at Whiteman Air Force Base May 14 and 15, tested the limitations of the unit's A-10 "Warthog" maintainers, who found serenity within the confines of flight line shelters.

Master Sergeant John Walton, 442nd Maintenance Squadron, manned one shelter from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. in efforts to provide not only a place to take cover from the simulated bombs, missiles and bullets fired by the enemy, but a place to take refuge.

"I'm mostly accountable for the crew chiefs and leaders, and try to keep them updated," Sergeant Walton said.

There is no wireless access, comfy couches or a coffee-serving barista waiting inside the shelters but Sergeant Walton takes care of the most basic of amenities.

"These guys are in a high tempo, busy environment so I make sure they have water and I get rid of the trash so they have a clean place to unwind," Sergeant Walton said.

Senior Airman Samantha Lane, crew chief, Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, worked a 14-hour day with breaks coming approximately every four hours and talked about the importance of the shelter.

"It's a great place to relax and catch-up with everybody else to see how their job is going," Airman Lane said. "A lot of people get different information so it's a good place to clarify what's going on."

Sergeant Walton has deployed to Bagram Air Base twice and talked about how the training he observed during the ORE matched up to his Afghanistan experience.

"This'll prepare them for the real thing more than the real thing itself," Sergeant Walton said. "It's great training for young troops."

Airman Lane is one of those young troops who has yet to deploy and believes the training has profited her greatly as she anticipates the opportunity to deploy to a very real combat zone and launch real combat sorties over the rough terrain of Southwest Asia.

"I feel like if I needed to dawn my MOPP (mission oriented protective posture) gear, I'd be ready to function in it," Airman Lane said.

What many Airmen may not realize is that no matter the alarm conditions, the show must go on for those in the maintenance group, so it's important for them to be able to operate at MOPP 4.

"If the pilot so much as puts his foot on one rung of the plane's ladder we keep working until the plane is in the air," Airman Lane said.

The month of May will soon be in the rear-view mirror for the 442nd FW but the image in the windshield of the upcoming ORI resembles a very real conflict that continues on the not so distant other side of our planet.