Close quarters battle: 435 SFS perfect assault techniques

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Milton Hamilton
  • 86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany --  What looked like an abandoned office building on the outskirts of Ramstein’s flightline, turned out to be the perfect setting for the 435th Security Forces Squadron to conduct close quarters battle training July 28, 2020.

“We hone these skills because we could potentially be put in situations where we have to clear out a house or a hangar on an empty airfield, which still may be occupied by an enemy force,” said U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Ross Caldwell, 435th SFS team chief. “We work as a team and try to get in each other's heads to see how we work under stress when things get hard, dynamic or very obscure.”

The indoor training facility provided the Airmen the opportunity to practice strategic movements around corners, building clearing techniques and hone communication skills between their assault teams.

“We participate in a lot of exercises and integrate ourselves with other units such as special forces and tactical air control party specialists (TACP),” Caldwell said. “They know we have the facilities to train and, ultimately, this helps to strengthen interoperability with other forces.”

The 435th SFS Airmen incorporated several scenarios during the CQB training to simulate real-world threats. They critiqued each movement and fired blank rounds throughout the structure as a sort of capstone event.

“CQB is a very perishable skill,” said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Ulysses Ortiz, 435th SFS fire team member. “If we don't constantly train we’ll get rusty at it. As security forces members, we do an array of jobs. We never know when we’ll be called to a situation where we have to use these skills, so that makes this training even more important.”

As a component of the 435th Contingency Response Group, U.S. Air Forces in Europe's only expeditionary open-the-base force, the 435th SFS is integral in ensuring the ability to build forward operating bases and conduct air operations in austere environments anywhere in the U.S. European Command’s area of responsibility.