Airman's Manual refreshes skills

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Robert Pearson
  • 90th Space Wing
F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. --  I've always taken my Airman's Manual with me on past deployments just in case I needed it, but I never took a great interest in it. Some Warren Airmen read it during exercises and then stow the book in their mobility bag to collect dust until the next exercise.

However, procedures for certain combat-related tasks become unclear after extensive periods of inactivity.

This all changed for me on a recent deployment to Afghanistan.

After six weeks of training in Mississippi, I arrived in Afghanistan and learned that our team would deploy to a small forward operating base about a two-hour drive from Kandahar. Our FOB was about half the size of the base parade field here and it looked like our Air Force team would be half the manning. So what does this have to do with an Airman's Manual?

We were welcomed to the FOB by an enemy rocket attack. Since everyone at the FOB was part of base defense and post-attack reconnaissance, we were tasked to find any unexploded ordinance that may have landed inside or near our parameter. While I did receive this training many times before, I was still a little vague on the proper procedures. The Airman's Manual explains this procedure on page 128. This gave me the basic information I needed to feel a lot more confident that I could handle coming across a shiny metal object I had never seen before.

After a couple of more rocket attacks, we were ordered to strengthen our fighting positions and protect the hardened tent with sandbags.

I thought filling a sandbag and stacking them would be fairly easy. After a few unsuccessful tries, I realized it may take longer than I thought. Then I remembered my trusty Airman's Manual and sure enough, page 62's diagrams showed me all the tricks of filling a sandbag and proper placement.

If you're like most of the Air Force, cleaning a weapon is not something you do often.

I was not very familiar with the M-9 and I handled the M-16 once every 2 years. In the desert, your weapon gets dirty very quickly and you never know when you may have to use it. No reason to worry though, page 112 and 113 of the Airman's Manual shows you all the tips you need to fieldstrip and clean your weapon.

There were many other times I used my Airman's Manual while I was deployed (convoy procedures, waste control, IEDs) and this manual played an important role in my safety and the well being for me and my team. I highly recommend before you deploy to any part of the world, participate in an exercise or if you just want to brush up on your skills, keep the Airman's Manual handy because you never know when you might need it.