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Future weapons school students participate WIC Rage exercise

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Kylee Thomas
  • 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs

DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- C-130 weapons officer pilots along with their crew put their capabilities to use during an exercise here, Dec. 5, 2017.  

“WIC Rage is an exercise in which weapons officers who have already been through U.S. Air Force Weapons School volunteer to guide future students and prepare them for what they’re about to experience,” said Maj. Austin Rust, 40th Airlift Squadron assistant director of operations.

The exercise consists of multiple pilots from the 40th AS who volunteered to help train as well as various pilots from Dyess AFB and Little Rock AFB, Arkansas.

“Everyone who is participating in WIC Rage is either an instructor who is getting ready to go through weapons school or someone who hopes to go in the future,” said Rust. “As weapons officers, we’re able to give the participants expertise, mentor them and give them any sort of leadership skills they may need in order to succeed.

Those who volunteered to help run the exercise have spent large amounts of their time planning and executing the events to ensure the personnel participating would be able to get the most out of their experience.

“For this particular exercise, the planning process took about a month and a half to develop the tactics and objectives, as well as to coordinate the logistics of the other units participating in this exercise with us,” said Rust.

The students who participated in the exercise were able to gain knowledge that can be used at the USAFWS. WIC Rage also gives them an advantage over other future students who do not participate in the exercise because they gain firsthand experience with pilots who have already gone through the course.

“This is the first time I’ve ever experienced something like this and the learning curve is incredible and you learn a lot about how to work with other people,” explained Capt. Brogan O’Toole, C-130J Super Hercules Pilot at Little Rock AFB. “I couldn’t imagine going into the weapons school program without having been able to see this before.”

Overall, the exercise is for anyone looking to improve their skills as a pilot before entering USAFWS. The pilots that have participated in the exercise also have the advantage of getting to know and work with each other before they start the course.

“I’m very appreciative for how many volunteers that were there and were focused on my learning,” said O’Toole. “I would recommend this exercise to anyone looking to join the course because it’s very limited.”