RAF Regiment trains with Liberty Warriors

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Eboni Knox
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England -- --  With eyes closed, the sound was like hundreds of marbles hitting the floor. With eyes opened, however, the sound of marbles was replaced with the vision of airmen from the 15th Squadron Royal Air Force Regiment rapidly loading ammo into magazines during a training exercise.

In that jarring sound, the U.S. and Royal air forces made history when they joined for a week-long training session in tactical execution and weapon use at RAF Feltwell, England, the first week of March.

Training focused on efficiently working as a team in a wartime situation and effective communication in that environment.

British airmen only carry one weapon at a time, so training them to carry more than one was somewhat of a challenge.

"Training them to carry both a rifle and a hand gun simultaneously was difficult at first," said Tech. Sgt. David Snyder, 48th Security Forces Squadron Defense University training instructor. "It's a difficult adjustment to make when you're altering a paradigm."

By the third day, the RAF airmen transitioned from classroom training to hands-on simulations that included clearing rooms with newly learned tactical group movements.

"The RAF airmen were very open to new training and had a fast learning curve," said Tech. Sgt. David Gray, 48th SFS training instructor. "They were very cooperative, and it allowed the training to go well."

Communication between foreign services training together is sometimes a hindrance, but that wasn't the case when the RAF airmen according to Capt. Carlos Hernandez, 48th SFS Operations officer.

"We have some pretty different processes between our respective services," said the operations officer. "But sharing information wasn't a problem for us. It really expedited training."

One important part of the training was the ability to work together according to one RAF flight chief.

"The most beneficial part of the training was the combination of learning off each other," said Flight Lt. Mike Hasbrig-Hartley.