As Civil Engineers in the USAF, we are tasked with deploying to austere locations, fighting our way in, building the base and defending it. Fortunately, our primary emphasis is on building the base and not the other parts. However, to gain proficiency at the whole process, we took a few days in June to go on what’s called a bivouac. This was training time dedicated to practicing these warfighting skills.
We used blanks, and an abandoned section of the base to train at. Our opposing force was tasked with making the scenario realistic and difficult. So, we assembled at the main base, packed our gear, moved out in a convoy, established a safe perimeter built up the bivouac location, and defended it for about 3 days. No one was actually harmed in the exercise….
Here are the pictures taken by the base photographer that show the process:
Entering the training location (where we may encounter the opposing force):
Here is the opposing force…
Building up the site:
Opposition force:
Training included battlefield triage:
The opposition force plotting their next attack:
Our counter-attack:
Formation at the end of the day:
Things started to go our way when we began to capture the opposition force:
No battle is without a price:
The exercise ended with the surrender of the last opposition force.
Once finished we packed up all the gear, cleaned it and returned to the main base to return to our families. It was only a few days, but combined with the earlier training at Silver Flag, we’ve help make sure our Airmen are ready to deploy in September in support of Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom.
–Jim
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