919th SOW tour helps area civic leaders boost military mission IQ

  • Published
  • By Dan Neely
  • 919th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
DUKE FIELD, Fla. --  Seventeen Northwest Florida civic leaders expanded their knowledge of Air Force Reserve and other military missions with a visit to Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi.

The two-day tour kicked off with a visit to Keesler's reservist tenant unit, the 403rd Wing and its world-famous Hurricane Hunters of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron. The squadron's Citizen Airmen fly their state-of-the-art WC-130J aircraft into Earth's most violent storms - recording and transmitting critical, real-time weather data about them via satellite links to forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

"Twelve planes in the world fly in hurricanes and 10 of those are out of this base," said Lt. Col. Jeff Ragusa, an instructor pilot and the wing's chief of safety, who briefed the group about his unit's unique mission. During his highly interactive briefing, Ragusa called five civic leaders onto the stage for a bit of role-play where he asked them to stand in each of the Hurricane Hunter aircrew positions: pilot, first officer, navigator, meteorologist and dropsonde operator.

Later, standing inside one of the aircraft parked on the Keesler flightline, meteorologist 2nd Lt. Leesa Froelich spoke to her visitors as she held up one of its two-foot-long cylinder-shaped dropsondes. She demonstrated how the expendable electronic instrument is jettisoned from the aircraft to compile and transmit weather data -- including the storm's wind speed, position and air pressure -- back to the aircraft as the device slowly parachutes to the sea surface.

"We always learn something new on these tours," said Shelley Kaiser, an executive for Superior Residences, an assisted living facility. "It's amazing to see what our military members are doing and how they train. We were very appreciative of the Hurricane Hunters since their mission is so important to our home."

After their Reserve wing visit, the group wrapped up their first day by meeting Keesler's active-duty host 81st Training Wing commander, Brig. Gen. Patrick Higby, who praised "the highly successful Total Force Integration relationship that exists" between his 12,000-member wing and the Reserve's 403rd Wing. Later, he invited them to tour the wing's air traffic control schoolhouse where the Air Force's future tower and combat air controllers are being trained.

The second and final day of the tour featured supplemental visits to two more Mississippi-based military training hubs - Naval Construction Training Center Gulfport and the Naval Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School stationed on NASA's massive John C. Stennis Space Center.

At NCTC Gulfport, the civic leaders saw Sailors training to become the newest members of the Navy's combat construction battalion, better known as the Seabees. Strolling through a large outdoor compound, the group saw dozens of the trainees building various wooden structures, and mixing and pouring cement for a large concrete vehicle parking pad, all under the watchful eyes of training leaders.

Moments later, they were ushered inside the nearby convoy simulator facility where a team of defense contractors introduced them to a key part of combat survival training. The simulator rooms feature a battle-ready Humvee - complete with turret-mounted M-240 machine gun -- surrounded by a 360-degree viewable bank of large virtual reality monitors.

Many of the visitors eagerly jumped at the opportunity to test their mettle, using air-operated M-4 and M-16 rifles to fire on hordes of enemy combatants that relentlessly attacked their convoy from all directions.

"We are constantly upgrading our equipment to have the best-trained military in the world," said Ron Williams, the simulator's site supervisor for contractor Pulau Corporation. "Just four days of simulator training saves (the government) $300,000 in ammo costs."

In their final tour stop at NAVSCIATTS, Navy Cmdr. John Cowan educated the group on his schoolhouse that currently operates under the U.S. Special Operations Command. It trains and educates Foreign Security Force and other international students on small craft strategy, operations, communications, weapons, maintenance and instructor development. Cowan said more than 10,000 students from 100-plus partner nations have graduated since 1963, with an average of 400-500 students graduating each year.

"Our appreciation of our military and the men and women who serve our country is further enhanced with civic leader tours," said Nick Chubb of the Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce's executive committee. "I enjoyed both days of briefings and base tours, and the convoy simulator was awesome."