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FAST Airmen keep people, assets secure in USCENTCOM area of responsibility

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Eric Summers Jr.
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  While slow and steady may win some races, a group of Airmen from the 379th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron proves that being "FAST" is the best approach to being secure in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.

The squadron's Fly-Away Security Teams, or FAST, provides around-the-clock coverage for aircraft that land in areas where security is not already provided.

"We provide close-in ground security. Maintaining 360-degree security is our main (priority)," said Staff Sgt. Courtney Hill, assistant NCO in charge of FAST, deployed from Hill Air Force Base, Utah. "We also do flight deck denial which is when you have foreign nationals or persons under control on an aircraft. We stage ourselves on the plane to prevent anyone from trying to highjack the aircraft."

The FAST program, which augments the Air Mobility Command's Phoenix Raven program, provides security for aircraft throughout the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility in areas that the Department of Defense labels as unsecured. The Phoenix Raven program, implemented in 1997 at what is now the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., consists of teams of specially-trained security forces personnel dedicated to providing security for aircraft and personnel transiting high terrorist and criminal threat areas, as well as in lieu of missions for conventional special forces.

"Most of our training comes from them (Raven program). Our program is derived from there," said Hill, a Meridian, Miss., native. "We cover Operation New Dawn, Operation Enduring Freedom, (Combined Joint Task Force) Horn of Africa, -- pretty much anywhere (U.S. Air Forces Central Command) assets are, we go if those areas aren't secure."

A typical mission begins with a tasking from the AFCENT Air Mobility Division. The tasking is given to the most appropriate FAST unit in the AOR based on the aircraft's scheduled route.

The team begins mission planning to determine who will fly and what equipment is necessary.

Team members selected must then enter 'crew rest', a period of uninterrupted rest to ensure the Airmen are prepared to accomplish the mission. After crew rest, the teams, along with the aircrew, receive an intelligence briefing concerning the upcoming mission.

"Then we'll head out to go through customs, get our weapons and then go out to the plane and on to the mission," said Hill. "When the plane lands, we post to our positions."

Because the FAST mission is driven by aircraft missions, having a flexible schedule is key to success.

"The thing that I think is most difficult about this job is the various hours," said Staff Sgt. Shawn Walker, also deployed from Hill Air Force Base, Utah. "With this (schedule) you can fly out at anytime and you have to remain very flexible and adaptive to flying hours."

"It might be a mission planned at 9:45 a.m. and that's all we have for the day or we can be asleep tonight and our phones could ring at 2 a.m. and we have to leave in 45 minutes."

Teamwork ranks right up there with flexibility according to Hill.

"It's very important because, as they say, when you're out there, there is nobody but you," Hill said. "But when you land on that dirt strip there is nobody but you two, and you really have to depend on each other and know how to read each other."

Walker, a native of Madison, Ohio, says his job provides a sense of accomplishment.

"You feel very valued in this job," Walker said. "Because we protect the planes and the planes are high value and we're the last line of security between any bad guy and the airplane."

Hill said the FAST team is an absolute necessity in several locations.

"You land in Afghanistan and there are houses next to the runway and people walking across and next to the runway. If there is no FAST there and the loadmaster is doing his job and the pilot doing his job, who is going to prevent someone from planting a device on the plane or becoming a stowaway on a plane?" Hill asked.

Master Sgt. Mick Burgett, 746th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron loadmaster, deployed from the 910th Airlift Wing at Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Ohio, talked about the comfort of having FAST with them when traveling.

"They (FAST) are a very professional group of people and a joy to fly with," said the Cortland, Ohio, native. "You can't always look over your shoulder in some of the garden spots we fly in to -- everybody's busy doing other things -- it's nice to know they are out there."

Walker says he likes FAST because it's different than most security forces missions.

"I like it because it's a unique opportunity," Walker said. "It's different than sitting in a patrol car or at a gate."