Team Osan, ROKAF completes CBRNE training

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman David Owsianka
  • 51st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --   Airmen from the United States Air Force and Republic of Korea air force completed a simulated biological response training event Sept. 16, 2014, at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea.

Both nations' Airmen demonstrated their capabilities of pulling a biological sample, decontaminating an area and then decontaminating their personnel. The training event was intended to help both sides become more knowledgeable and bridge the gap of working successfully with one another.

"Working with our ROKAF counterparts is imperative to the mission for the Korean peninsula," said Master Sgt. Thomas Longworth, 51st Civil Engineering Squadron command inspection program manager. "We need to show that we are dedicated to the mission, and we are going to use all of the resources that we have in defense of their country."

ROK airmen agreed on the importance of the training event.

"I believe the training went very well because we were able to show what kind of capabilities we have," said ROKAF Senior Airman Woo Yong Change, ROKAF decontamination team member. "It's always good to see how we complete tasks together and what we can work on to successfully complete a mission."

Airmen from both countries demonstrated how they deploy to a biologically contaminated scene, pull a sample and transport it to a laboratory for further analysis.

"I thought it was very good to have joint training to see what our ROKAF counterparts have to offer us and see some things that we haven't done in our career field," said Senior Airman Elijah Horn, 51st CES emergency management flight member. "This training helps us become better emergency responders and provide us with the necessary experience that we can possibly use in real world contingencies."

The training event showcased the benefits of interoperability between the U.S. and ROK forces, especially in a difficult training scenario.

"Doing this training shows that we have mutual capabilities and that our processes are similar despite our differences in culture," Longworth said. "When doing these types of coalition training events we might learn a new process to make our system better for not just here on the peninsula, but for the broad Air Force."