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Defenders skills put to the test at Road Warrior 2022

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Landon Gunsauls
  • 90th Missile Wing Public Affairs

Security Forces airmen from across Global Strike Command’s three missile wings participated in the annual Road Warrior exercise hosted by the Mighty Ninety of F.E. Warren Air Force Base.

Cadres from the 90th Ground Combat Training Squadron based at Camp Guernsey honed skills and instructed airmen from Minot, Malmstrom and F.E. Warren in convoy assault recapture and defense tactics over a multi-day course designed to put all their skills to the test Aug. 1, 2022 through Aug. 19, 2022.

“Our main goal is to give them good exercises, realistic exercises, that are going to test their capabilities to where we know that when we put these three teams, at the three bases, that priority one resources have adequate security and are properly protected,” said Staff Sgt. Charles LeBlanc, 90 GCTS Cadre.

Several different scenarios were used to sharpen airmen’s skills in the field, from medical emergencies to insider threats. Defenders faced multiple challenges at Road Warrior this year, and with a constantly rotating force, defenders are frequently training to be ready at all times, in all environments.

Weeks of planning and organization leading up to Road Warrior resulted in what many called “The greatest Road Warrior of all time,” with many of the personnel acting as opposing forces coming from across the Air Force.

“As with previous Road Warriors, the feedback received has been outstanding and lauded as the ‘Best Road Warrior yet,” said Maj. Robert Hudspeth, 90 GCTS commander. “We will consolidate lessons learned with MAJCOM [major command] staff in the coming months and set the bar higher for future Road Warriors to come.”

For an event with such an important profile, it takes planning and organization involving leadership and personnel from multiple bases and agencies.

“The initial planning conference took place at the beginning of the year, leading up to the last four weeks of extensive preparation and execution,” said Hudspeth. “The first week consisted of training the OPFOR [opposing forces] from six different bases and setting up the seven scenario locations, and the following three weeks consisted of evaluating three missile wings on their CRF, MSC and Helo integrations through seven challenging scenarios in a premier training environment.”

Defenders worked with F.E. Warren’s Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems team, the 37th Helicopter Squadron, and the many subunits of the 90th GCTS to make the 2022 Road Warrior one of the most cohesive years yet.

“Road Warrior 2022 was a productive, humbling, and amazing experience. This was 50% of the flights first time participating in RW and there was not a better way to build a team of unity and inclusion. We grew as a team and a family,” said Master Sgt. Richard White, 90th Missile Security Operations Squadron convoy response force leader. “My expectations prior to attending were listen, learn, and adapt each and every day and I think we succeeded. As the Cobra flight says, ‘You hate to see it’ end. We will continue to grow, develop and train until it is our time to display our capabilities in the future.”